Tales of an Onigiri 2: Dragon's Flight Lion's Roar
by Sky-Blue44
Summary: The sequel to Tales of an Onigiri. Tohru has been captured by Syphos. Kira has been taken over by Suki. Ayu is the new head of the family. Will Kira ever come back to be with Momiji? Will Tohru ever be saved? Will Ayu save them all? MomijixOC. Some Kyoru.
1. The Past Two Weeks

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

English

Japanese

* * *

Chapter 1

The Past Two Weeks

**Part 1**

**The Squad Set-Up**

**November 5

* * *

**

Ayu sat, in a chair behind a large desk. Two chairs were in front of the desk. It was covered in papers, a cup of tea was still warm and was sitting on her desk. She had been up for two days straight. Shinji and Toji walked in, and sat down in front of Ayu.

"So," she yawned, "Have you come up with some people who could go after Kira and Tohru?"

"Yes," Shinji said, and handed Ayu a piece of paper.

Ayu read that the following would be on the squad: Shinji, Toji, Ayu, Haya, Sada, Mika, Tatsuya, Momiji, Kyo, Yuki, Scottie, Miri, Ai, and Leiko.

"WHAT?!" Ayu shouted, "WHY DO YOU HAVE MIRI, AI AND LEIKO AN THE SQUAD???!!!!"

"They are capable agents," Toji answered calmly.

"BUT THEY'LL TRY TO SABOTAGE THE MISSION!!!" Ayu shouted.

"I think you should get over your personal problems in this crisis," Toji said, "Rescuing Kira and Tohru is more important."

"OF COURSE IT'S IMPORTANT!! BUT THE FACT THAT THEY WILL BE TRYING TO SABOTAGE THIS MISSION IS ALSO IMPORTANT!!!"

"ENOUGH!!!" Shinji shouted, rising, "STOP TRYING TO BE LIKE KIRA AND ACTING LIKE THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM!!!"

"Shinji…" Toji said, as Ayu burst into tears.

"I'M NOT DONE!!" Shinji screamed, "WE ALL MISS KIRA AND TOHRU, BUT YOU'RE ACTING REDICULOUSLY!!! YOU NEED TO TRY TO HELP THEM, NOT MOAN ABOUT HOW THEY'RE GONE, AND ACT LIKE YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO MISSES THEM!!" Shinji sat back down, panting.

Ayu's tears dried, and she said, "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Toji said, "It's just frustrating that you are so broken. But, is the squad good?" Ayu nodded. Toji said, "Good. When you see Kira again, you're going to beat her up, aren't you?" Ayu nodded again, sniffing. "That's good," Toji said.

So, the squad was finalized.

* * *

**Part 2**

**Trapped. No Control.**

Suki being in control is much worse than Kira. At least I rarely agreed with Kira. I never agree with Suki.

While I am dark as Night, Suki is as dark as a black hole. I am tame compared to that monster. The worst bit is that I can't take control with that idiot in a block of ice. I have no power when she is like this. She's too dark as it is.

I, Dark, want Kira back. See how pathetic I am?

It may be hard to believe, but I am a lot like Kira. We are two parts of one whole. But if Kira is not in control…

I'm screwed.

This totally figures, since I always wanted her to go bye-bye. Guess I got what wanted, huh?

I miss Kira's Guardians, too. They're gone. Suki has them trapped. They're being forced to do her bidding. Which is REALLY BAD; I could use their help right now.

I don't think that I can get Kira out on my own. But knowing Kira's friend's they'll be after her. I'll help them. Don't worry Kira. I'll get you back.

Shit. I'm getting to be such a sap. Don't tell anyone, 'kay? It'll be our secret.

* * *

**Part 3**

**Haya**

**November 7**

I will do my dance. The one Kira-nee taught me. It will be for Kira-nee and Tohru-nee.

Swirling and twirling, I dance, sword in my hand. I am dancing the dance of the Dragon, variation 5. The first Kira-nee taught me.

As I dance, bare feet moving gracefully, I spread my arms and leap, transitioning into Dragon variation 2. I move more slowly now. In a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, it may be the most formal of dance wear, but Kira-nee once told me that it didn't matter what you wore, as long as you practiced. We would begin our mission to find her tomorrow.

Moving more violently, I transitioned into the dance of the Phoenix, the only variation. It was long, and tiring. It was supposed to show the phoenix's anger if its loved ones were killed. Fire seemed to surround me, as I showed my rage. Then I slowed once more into the funeral dance of the Dragon. Moving sadly, slowly, I could never do this as beautifully as Kira-nee could, but I always did my best. Kira-nee had learned these on a mission in Germany. Tears began to run down my face, as I remembered how Kira-nee had loved Momiji, I could tell, just by the look on her face. I fell to my knees, and heard clapping behind me. I wiped my eyes, and turned, and I saw Momiji.

"That was wonderful!" he said, "Who taught you that?"

"Kira-nee," I said sadly.

"Oh," he said, and I could tell he was holding back tears as he asked, "If I mastered it, do you think that Kira would come back?"

I could not bear to say no, so I said, "May be."

"Can you teach me then, the boy's part?" Momiji asked.

"Sure, I just need the one who usually danced the boy's part to accompany me," I said, walking off.

I returned a few minutes later, Scottie at my side. "This," I said, "Is Scottie. He was Kira's third in our squad, so he went on the mission where Kira learned. Scottie, this is Momiji, you know the one who Kira like, liked."

"Pleased to meet you," Scottie said. So, Momiji's lessons began.

* * *

Author's Note: So, the next part of Tales of an Onigiri begins! I hope you all liked it. I know it was really short…the next chapter will be longer since we will be seeing Tohru again, and Mission: Find Kira will also begin. Thanks for all of the reviews from the last update of Tales of an Onigiri! Please Review!!! 


	2. Mission: Find Kira

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

Japanese

English

_French

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_

Chapter 2

Mission: Find Kira Part 1

**Part A**

**Katsuya's Grave**

Mika and Tatsuya stood in front of Katsuya's grave. Mika placed a flower that she had made with her guardians especially for the occasion, so that Katsuya could still have a flower, even in the winter.

She bowed, then, still in it said, "I'm sorry Katsu-nii. I couldn't protect your little girls. But, Tatsuya and I are going on a mission to go save them both," Mika then came out of the bow, then putting up the hood of her sweatshirt, walked away.

Tatsuya saluted to Katsuya's headstone, and followed Mika. It then began to snow.

**Part B**

**And They're Off!**

"Anyway," Ayu said, "Let's Go!"

They began to walk off, when a voice said from behind them said, "Hey! Aren't you forgetting someone?" They turned to see Uo and Hana. Uo looked slightly pissed off and Hana just had her usual face on.

"You two aren't coming," Ayu said coldly.

"Why not? We're agents. We have a higher rank than the Sohmas or even these two brats here!"

"Hey!"

"Sorry. But seriously!"

"Allow us to go," Hana said, scaring everyone but Ayu.

"Just let them," Shinji said.

"Fine, but if you get hurt, don't come crying to me!" Ayu said, turning.

Uo smirked, as Hana smiled, and said "Thank You Ayu-chan."

Then, they started off, two joining the team.

* * *

**Part C**

**France**

Ayu and company were in the village near Kira's home. People were bustling around, some riding mopeds. Momiji entered a small shop filled with trinkets. As he looked through the shop, he heard a crash. "_Non!"_ a girl's voice cried. He ran over. A girl was crouching down trying to pick up the pieces of the trinket as quickly as possible. He helped her pick it up. They both got up off the floor, each holding some of the shards. The girl had brown eyes and hair. "_Merci,"_ she said, smiling.

"Um, excuse me," Momiji said.

"_Oui?_" the girl answered in perfect Japanese.

"Have you seen this girl?" Momiji asked, showing her a small picture of Kira.

"_Kira! Oui! She is my sister's friend!" _The girl smiled, and Momiji realized she was younger than him, by a few years. She had brown hair and eyes, her hair in two braids. She was in blue jeans and a nice sweater.

"Do you know Japanese? I'm sorry, but I don't know French," Momiji apologized.

"Oh, it's no problem," the girl said, "My name is-,"

"_Rachel!! Is this your boyfriend?! If he hurts you…oh my god…we'll die!! And you broke a cup! Oh my god! Are you hurt?????!!!!!!!!_" a girl said from behind the brown haired girl. She was a little older than the girl but looked almost exactly like her. She had round glasses and was wearing the store's uniform, which was a black knee length skirt with a white button down shirt.

"Elle, this boy is looking for Kira. God, would you mind not freaking out so much, it's embarrassing," Rachel sighed.

"What? Why is he looking for Kira? Did she do something stupid again?"

"I don't know! Why don't you ask him?!" Rachel exclaimed slapping a hand on her forehead.

"Right. Sorry. Who are you? Kira's one of my friends. She went to school with me for a year," Elle said.

"My name is Momiji Sohma," Momiji said.

"_Rachel! This is the boy Kira loves! She said so in her letters! Go make him some tea!"_ Elle panicked, going into a frenzy. Rachel went into the back room, to make the tea, trying to get her sister to stop. "I'm so sorry about that. I didn't know you were Momiji-kun." she said, calming back down, "Kira told me lots about you. But please, let's go sit down."

"Okay!" Momiji cheered.

They sat down at a table in the store, on which was a tea set. "This shop is a tea and trinket shop. The owner of the shop is an old woman. She has been very kind to us. Why are you looking for Kira though?"

Momiji then filled her in on what had happened over the last two weeks.

"KIRA IS MISSING!!!!???? TOHRU IS TOO???!!!!!!!" Elle panicked, dropping her cup of tea, and the cup dropped to the ground. She bent down to pick it up, and Momiji helped. "I can see why Kira likes you so much," Elle said, "You seem like a nice guy. But you just aren't hot enough for me."

"Huh?" Momiji said.

"Uh…never mind." Elle said, "But you'd best go to our school, Loup Academy. You'll be able to find out quite a bit there. And who knows? Kira may be there. School starts again tomorrow. You can stay at Kira's house until then."

* * *

Meanwhile, in a flat in London, a red haired girl was packing so she could go back to school the next day. A shadow was cast over her. She turned, showing her blue eyes. "Are you part of Syphos' forces?" The man nodded. "Well, I'll give you ten minutes to get out of here."

The man didn't move.

"Sorry, I have to do this," the girl said. She closed her eyes, concentrating as the man began to move towards her. The man fell three inches in front of her, unconscious. She opened her eyes, which seemed to get darker. She picked up the man, and turned on her heel.

She appeared in the emergency room of a hospital. She dumped the man in a chair and turned on her heel again.

Back in her apartment, she continued packing.

* * *

44: And so, another chapter ends, with almost 1,000 words. Not too shabby. I could do better though. Thank You for reading! Next chapter we see Tohru. Who is her protector? Well, next chapter we'll find out! They won't go to Loup Academy until chapter 4. Thanks for all of the reviews last chapter! Please Review! 


	3. Tohru's Part Time Protector

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

Japanese

English

_Zan's Thoughts_

Chapter 3

Tohru's Part-Time Protector

**Part A**

**Discovery

* * *

**

The protector walked down the hall carrying a bowl of soup. He opened Tohru's cell door with a clank and Tohru snapped awake. Her eyes noticed the shadowy figure holding a bowl of soup, and she relaxed visibly. He placed the soup on the ground and she began to eat it as he watched. As Tohru began to slurp up noodles, she asked, "Who are you?"

The man seemed to hesitate. Then he said, "My name is Zan."

Tohru frowned, "If you're the Zan I'm thinking of they why are you doing this for me?"

Zan began his Tale:

* * *

**Part B:**

**Zan's Past**

**(Language Code is switched Thoughts Remain the Same)**

_Zan: Age 2

* * *

_

In a small orphanage in a large city, it was nap time for all the little kids. In their beds or in their cribs they slept peacefully. The door creaked open, revealing a man in a black mask and jumpsuit. Only one child woke up to the man's entrance, a baby with red hair and black eyes. The child got up and walked over to the man and smiled, "My name is Zan. Who are you?"

"My name is 122," the man said.

"That's an odd name," Zan said, wrinkling his nose, then came back to a smile, "But, oh well!"

The man already liked this kid. Then a light bulb flashed in his head. "How would you like to get out o this place?"

Zan smiled, he had always wanted to get out of the orphanage he had always been an outsider, due to his odd name, hair, and eyes. "Yes!"

"Well, go get your stuff," 122 said.

"This is all I have. And I have this ring," He pointed at a gold ring on his finger that said simply ZH.

122 looked a little shocked, but quickly recovered so he would not worry the kid and said, "Let's go."

"Yes, sir!"

_15 Minutes Later_

"Master Syphos. I have a new recruit for you," 122 said bowing, as Zan stood next to him.

"He is very young. May be he could be my successor, when he gets older," Syphos drawled.

Whispers filled the room, of how strange it was for **Syphos** to give anyone praise, let alone say that he could be a successor of HIM.

"What is your full name?" Syphos asked, hushing the whispers immediately.

"I don't know my last name. The only name I have is Zan, sir," Zan said, "This ring has my first initial though."

"Let me see it. Just for a second," Syphos said, Zan passed the ring to him. "ZH, huh?"

"Yes, sir," Zan said.

"Very good. Here you go," he said passing the ring back. "I'll give you a last name. Since you are to be my heir, I will give you a proper last name. I got it! Hellbringer, fore you will bring hell to your enemies."

_At first I was happy to be Syphos' Pet. I got everything I wanted. But when I screwed up at anything, I would be punished much more harshly than anyone else at my level or age. I had no friends. No one liked me because it seemed I had everything. I lived this way until I was seven, when I finally got to go to a real school._

_(Language Switch Back)_

_Zan: Age 7_

"Class, we have a new student today, tell us your name sweetie," the second grade teacher said, Zan standing next to her. In the back, a girl with black hair and green eyes sat in the back of the room, separated from all the other kids. She began to cough. As the coughing fit ended, and she wiped blood from her mouth, one could tell that everyone was sickened by her illness, even the teacher, except for Zan.

"Zan-kun, you go sit next to Mika-chan," the teacher said, Zan nodded once and sat next to her. The teacher then began to teach how to write Kanji.

_Two Hours Later_

"Time for Recess! Everyone get outside!" the teacher said. All of the children ran outside.

"Hey, New Kid!" a few boys in Zan's new class said.

Zan turned and asked, "Me?"

"Yes, you! Who do you think we're talkin' to? The other new kid?!" Boy 1 said.

"No, I didn't think so," Zan said.

"You're weird," Boy 2 said.

"Oh," Zan said.

"What kind of name is Zan anyways?! How lame!" Zan ran away from the jeering boys, to behind tree, leaving the boys laughing.

Zan crouched down, crying. He heard a sigh, and a book snap shut. As who ever was sitting on the other side of the tree waited for him to stop.

After about five minutes, the tears stopped, and whoever was on the other side of tree, sat down next to him. It was the girl who had sat next to him in class earlier.

"Those idiots always pick on me too. I'm rarely in school because of my illness, so I have no friends. My name is Mika Honda," Mika said.

"My name is Zan Hellbringer. Pleased to meet you."

"Same here," they shook hands.

_Mika Honda was my first real friend. As soon as Syphos found out that I was going to school with a Honda, he pulled me out. I never thought Mika and I would ever have to fight. _

_The next time I ever had to deal with the Hondas was when I was much older. It was 16 years later. Many of her family members died because of us. I don't think she will ever forgive me, with good reason. _

_I am so sorry. I think I once loved you. I might still._

_But at least I did something for your brother..._

_Zan: Age 23, briefly after the battle_

Zan was being punished for not killing Mika, the number two agent in the agency. His punishment: to clean the prison cells.

So Zan as he was cleaning a hallway heard a voice, "Hey! You!" Zan turned, seeing Katsuya.

"You're that Zan guy, right? The one that is the heir to become the head of Syphos' forces? What are you doing down here, if you're going to be head honcho someday?" Katsuya asked.

"It doesn't matter if you know. It was because I refused to kill your sister, Mika, after she went unconscious. Actually, I stopped anyone from doing it."

Katsuya looked relieved, "Thank God! She's not dead!"

"Everyone but Natsuya lived," Zan said.

Katsuya laughed, "That's great!" He sobered quickly, "I wonder what will happen to me."

"I don't know, you are the number one agent in the Agency, they probably won't let you go alive," Zan said gravely.

Katsuya sighed and looked at the impression on Zan's face, "Don't worry about me. Just do me one favor if I…you know."

Zan nodded as he listened to Katsuya's request. He would do it.

_2 Weeks Later_

Zan carried an ailing Katsuya towards Katsuya's home. He placed Katsuya on his doorstep. He put a piece of paper on top of Katsuya reading "I'm sorry." Zan rang the doorbell, walked a few steps away and turned on his heel, vanishing into the pre-dawn air. His punishment would not be good once he got home.

_Katsuya's requests: "If I am about to...you know...die...leave me on my doorstep, and let me be with my family one last time. Try to protect Mika as well. She'll need it._

_I think I failed that last one there, Katsuya. Sorry about that. I wish I could've fulfilled it. So let me protect your daughter instead, I can actually help her._

_Goodbye old friend._

_I love you Mika. I need you to live. Even if I die in your place._

* * *

**End of Chapter 3**

Author's Note: Too angsty, I wish I didn't have to write that. The bonus chapter is the next one though, you can vote if you want! After that it's back to the actual story line! The mysterious red head and all that good stuff! Please Review! Also, Happy Holidays! Happy New Year!

Kira: I'm never getting back in the story am I?

Sana: I haven't appeared since chapter 10 of Book 1! Neither has Siri!

44: Listen, I promise that you'll appear! You all will.

Shino/Hiromo (They're the Panda and the Fox): Even us?

44: Yes! Remember to review! See ya next time!


	4. Back to School!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

Japanese

English

**French

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**

Chapter 4

Back to School!

_**Part A **_

_**Loup Academy Introduction**_

Loup Academy: a school for the Elite. Located in America, the very rich and/or smart of the world attend this school. Scholarships are available, but are very elusive. The most influential people in the world have attended this school. Loup academy is truly a school for the intellects of the world. The school's grades reach from preschool to graduate school, with some students being there for the entirety of their schooling.

Loup Academy is broken up into different classes, each allotted a color. The most elite is Blue. The Blues can specialize their uniforms, have very large private suites, will not get as harsh of punishments as those of lower ranks, and other countless privileges.

The next down are the Greens. The Greens have medium size suites (medium bedroom, medium bathroom), but they have to share them with one or two people of their choice. They are allowed to wear accessories with their uniforms. The Yellows (next down) have the same privileges. Punishments are medium for both.

The final two are the Reds and the Oranges. They both have similar privileges, but Oranges are generally treated better by teachers and peers. They have very harsh punishments. They must share very small rooms with at least one person. They must wear their uniforms perfectly or they will be very harshly punished.

It is every person of a lower rank's dream to get up to Green or Blue Rank. They have to work very hard in order to get so high up. Sometimes a person who has just been admitted to the Academy can be given a very high rank. This usually causes unrest in the school, even among the teachers. This is because many of the teachers once attended the school themselves and are not willing to give up their old ways.

This school has three schools on campus. Loup Academy has four pools, two indoor and one outdoor. There are six libraries, and high tech labs. There are many school trips a year to foreign countries and elsewhere. Some are for fun or to further knowledge. Many at this school are either bi or multi lingual. According to many students, "This school is the coolest!"

* * *

_**Part B**_

_**Back to School**_

It was the day of the end of winter break. Cars of all kinds drove up to the front gates of Loup Academy. An English red head stepped out of a cab, slinging a duffle bag over her shoulder. She waited at the gate, waiting for someone. Then a limo drove up. Out of the limo jumped a girl who had dyed her hair blue. She screeched, glomping the red head as they waited. The bubbly blue haired girl said, "So, Jenny, how was your break?"

"Hn," the red head said, "I thought I told you not to call me that, Lily."

The blue haired girl, identified as Lily, pouted, "That's not the point, Jennifer."

"On second thought, just call me Jenny," Jenny said, "Jennifer's awful. It wasn't bad. I hung out in my flat for a week. Watching anime on You Tube."

"Cool. I read Manga," Lily said, "I wonder if Kira will ever get a fast computer."

"No idea, did you hear from her yet?"

"No."

"I'm starting to get worried."

"Hn."

"You could show a little emotion."

Then a blue minivan drove up to the gate. Jumping out of the car Ayu and everyone else, including Elle and her little sisters, Rachel and Ren (age 5, looks exactly like her older sisters) approached the two girls.

"Who are they Elle?" said Lily.

"**Kira's friends and family."**

**"Is the red head Ayu?" **questioned Jenny.

**"Yes."**

**"The happy looking blonde, is he that boy that Kira likes?" **Lily asked.

**"Yeah. Kira has good taste, although he's too cute for me. He looks too much like a little kid. I would feel like a cradle snatcher," **Elle said.

**"He does not have long hair. And he is too cute," **Lily pouted.

**"What are you guys doing critiquing Kira's taste in guys? You have no lives," **Jenny said.

"We know!" Lily and Elle said.

"Are you guys talking about us?" Kyo said, slight tic mark growing substantially on his forehead.

"Yep!" Lily said, turning, giving Kyo a thumbs up. The tick mark continues to grow. "Who are you anyways?"

**"That's Kyo-kun. You know the guy Tohru has a crush on and Kyo returns the feelings, but neither one knows," **Elle said.

**"Oh yeah!"**

The tick grows until Kyo is about to throw a fit, when Ayu deftly stood in front of him.

"You must be Lily and Jenny. I have heard a lot about you, from Kira's letters. My name is Ayu Honda."

"We have heard quite a bit about you too," Jenny said, blocking Lily from Kyo's glares.

"Where's Tohru? And Kira?" Lily said.

_**Explanation of Entire Story Here**_

"WHAT?!!!" Lily screamed, while Jenny looked slightly shocked.

As Lily freaked out, Jenny suddenly realized something. "Hey, Ayu, can I speak to you for a moment?" Jenny said, pulling Ayu to the side.

* * *

_**Part C**_

_**Letters from a Certain Dragon**_

I had always been overjoyed whenever I would get a letter from my elusive cousin Kira who had been going to Loup Academy for a year. I read them over many times, enough to memorize them. The first letter…

_May 4__th_

_Hey Ayu! _

_I'm finally in my dorm at Loup Academy, and it's really huge! I got into the Blue Class in the academy. Which you could not get into even if you tried, so ha! _

_It took so long to get to the US. I'm exhausted. Jet-Lag sucks. Anyway, I made a few friends already. I'll explain about them later. But first, I have a favor to ask. _

_Take care Tohru for me. I know she's a big girl, she's older than me, and she can take care of herself, in the physical sense at least. But I'm worried about her mentality. As much as I didn't like it, she loved Mom, may be more than me, her baby sister. But losing us both within a week… It mist be tough on her. Just try to make sure that she is alright, even if it means you have to have Haya or Sada tail her, do it. _

_I'm sorry; I have no right to be asking you to do this for me. Just please do it. I'm not allowed to have any contact with Tohru, so please. You can even say no, and I won't bug you about it, ever again. Hell, if you don't ever want me to talk to you ever again, I'll do that too. _

_Consider it though. Also, tell me how everyone else is doing, _

_-Kira _

That's when I began to tell Kira what was going on with Tohru. Her moving in with Grandpa, the renovations in the woods, her having to live in a tent, then with the Sohmas, many times I had to stop her from running from the Academy back to Japan to "save" Tohru. I remember when I was told by Kira by letter that she was returning. I picked her up from the airport. When I asked her if she had told Tohru, she answered, "No, she probably does not want to see me. She probably blames me for leaving her and for Mom's death."

When I tried to tell her that Tohru did not feel that way, she smiled sadly, and didn't say a thing.

Jenny's words really hit me today; she asked me "What if Kira doesn't want to come back?"

This hit my worst fear on the head. I answered, truthfully, knowing this girl would see right through me if I lied, "I don't care. She needs to take responsibility. She's always run away. I won't let her do that anymore."

Then Jenny smiled at me and said, "That's what I thought. You are better than I thought. Then we went back and joined the others.

* * *

_**End of Chapter 4

* * *

**_

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed chapter 4. The Bonus Chapter will once again be moved back to a "whenever I'm really stumped" basis. Thanks for the reviews from last time, and please review!


	5. First Day of School

* * *

Sorry it's so short.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

English

Japanese

**French**

_Thoughts_

_**Scene/Part Change

* * *

**_

Chapter 5

First Day of School

_**Part A **_

_**The New Kids in Town

* * *

**_

It was the first official day of school at Loup Academy. All the kids in the Blue Class were in the Auditorium, waiting to see who would be brought into the select blue class. Each of the students would get up and grab a pass, saying they were of Blue Class and allowing them to get their uniforms. Everyone had expected that the ceremony would end after all of the students that had been Blue last year picked up their passes, when the principal began, "We have several new students, never attending Loup Academy, joining our class."

Whispers and mutters circled the room, many of outrage. The principal cleared his throat and silence reigned once again, "Grade 4, New Students: Haya Honda, and Sada Honda." Mutters began again. Honda? Do they have something to do with the Professor?

"Grade 10, New Students: Miri Honda, Shinji Honda, Toji Honda, and Momiji Sohma. Grade 11, New Students: Ai Honda, Ayumi Honda, Kyo Sohma, and Yuki Sohma. In Year 1 of College: John Ascot."

"Call him Scottie!" a girl in the crowd shouted.

"Come on, Haya!!!" the college guy yelled.

Everyone laughed, and Scottie went red. "Another School that calls me Scottie," Scottie thought, he glanced at Haya, "And all because of her, the laughing _demon_."

"I hope you all do well in this new school year! Now off to your dorms and to wait for the uniform tailors!" the principal announced.

"Yes sir!" everyone said.

* * *

_**Part B**_

_**THE LOUP ACADEMY UNIFORM**_

The uniforms for both genders have a shirt and tie with an overcoat. However, girls generally substitute a sweater in exchange of the overcoat for comfort and looks, unless they are of Red or Orange Rank. The clothes are the same color as the person's rank. Some people of higher ranks get rid of the tie. The girls traditionally wear a skirt with the uniform. Due to complaints of sexism in forcing girls to wear skirts in 1999, they are now allowed to wear pants, but traditional teachers at the school do not like it. Also, many girls elect to wear the skirt. Those who wear pants usually just make problems for themselves.

The boy's uniform is generally the same. They also occasionally do away with the tie. They do not usually wear sweaters or skirts with uniforms…for obvious reasons. They wear pants.

Shoes are traditionally dress shoes/ Mary Jane's, but many wear other variations of footwear. Also, knee highs for girls are traditional, but are not always worn.

* * *

_**Part C**_

_**The Schedule**_

It was a sunny day at Loup Academy, albeit the snow, it was pretty nice out. The children were entering their homerooms. As Momiji entered the room, there was only a low hum of talking as people stared openly. He was about to sit down when he saw a tack on his chair, he brushed it off, and sat down. The whispers grew in volume. From the uncomfortable looks on Shinji, Toji and Miri's faces, they had also dealt with the tacks.

The teacher walked in slamming the door behind her. She was in her early fifties. "Hello, my name is Ms. Smith, and I will be your homeroom teacher for this year," she introduced herself, "We have a new student," she glared pointedly at Momiji, "But do not treat him as an outsider. He is as good as you," she said this, although her eyes said the opposite.

Momiji sighed, "_This isn't going to be as easy as I thought,_" he thought, "_But I'll do it, anything for Kira."_

Momiji decided he might as well look at his schedule, to see what he had today. "_Math, English, Science...the usual, what, huh? PA and T? What's that?"_ Momiji thought, shocked, "_It's next period, I guess I'll find out."_

_**

* * *

**_

Part D 

_**A Meeting**_

_**The Previous Evening

* * *

**_

Everyone was gathered in Ayu's room, Momiji, Kyo, Yuki, Haya, Sada, Jenny, Elle, and Lily all sat on the floor. Ayu said in a wooden chair, Shinji and Toji standing by her side. Miri, Ai and Leiko all sat on Ayu's bed.

"We must come up with a good plan to find Kira in this school, any ideas?" Ayu said.

Elle was about to speak, when Miri interrupted, "Why are we even bothering trying to find Kira? She's no good. She is a coward and a traitor, to run away from battle like that. Is it simply because she is your best friend?"

"No, she's my best friend, but she is also a valuable member of the agency, she has a higher rank than _you_ even, remember that," Ayu said, "And you have a personal interest in not finding her don't you, Miri."

"Why you-!"

"I don't care about you two's life long feud. You have to get over it. We are going to find Kira, whether you like it or not. If you sabotage this mission, however, you'll wish you'd never been born," Ayu said, keeping her cool.

Miri raced towards Ayu, dagger in hand, Shinji and Toji deftly stepped in front of Ayu, swords at the ready. She stood down, going back to her seat. As she sat back down, Ayu said quietly, so that only Shinji and Toji could hear her, "You are so stupid, you are just like the girl you hate."

And all Shinji and Toji could feel was shock that Ayu had finally realized something they had figured out long ago, Miri, Ai, and Leiko, were the same as Kira, Tohru, and Ayu.

_**End of Chapter 5**_

A/N:

44: And so, Chapter 5 of _Tales of an Onigiri 2_ comes to a close. This is the 30th chapter of _Tales of an Onigiri_ all together. So I would like to thank all of the reviewers up to this point. Let's hope _Tales of an Onigiri_ ends happily.

Ayu: "Hope?" What's that supposed to mean? You mean you haven't planned our lives out?

44: I have…to a point.

Everyone in the Story: TO A POINT?!

44: I'll be running now. Please Review! (All characters show up behind author with pitch forks and torches) AHHHHHHHH!! (44 runs away, All Characters chasing after)


	6. The Wheels of Fate Turn

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

English

Japanese 

Chapter 6

The Wheels of Fate Turn

_**Part A **_

_**The New Kid**_

"We have a new student entering our school late," Ms. Smith said, "I am pleased to introduce Suki Nuit. She was just given Blue Rank as she entered this school."

Whispers circled the room. The students said, "Is that the professor? No, it can't be! Why would she be under a different name? I don't know, but she looks so much like her!" Momiji stared openly at the new girl, while Miri glared. There standing at the front of the classroom was Kira. _Or someone who looked a whole hell of a lot __**like **__her._ Miri thought, _But, wait her eyes...they're black._

"Um...may I go to the bathroom?" Shinji asked, telling Toji with his eyes what he was going to do. 

"Yes, Yes," Ms. Smith said, distracted, by the new student who she was currently glaring at. 

Shinji ran down the hall, to outside Ayu's homeroom, he chanted "Alone Messenger," a fairy appeared next to him, "Go get Ayu, make sure no one else sees you."

"Yes, sir!" 

Shinji watched as the fairy became invisible, and then watched Ayu get up, ask to be excused, and run out of the classroom, only to see Shinji lazily standing by her classroom door.

"What's the emergency?" Ayu asked, as they walked down the hall. 

"There's a new girl."

"That's it. Jeez, Shinji, what's the big deal about that? I thought it was something serious!"

"I didn't finish. The new girl, she looks like Kira," Shinji said.

"There's an uncanny resemblance, huh? Well, it still might not be her, tell me when you have an actual lead, with actual proof," Ayu turned and began to walk away.

Shinji grabbed Ayu's arm, and said, nearly shouting, "She was wearing Suki's necklace!"

Ayu looked shocked for a minute, became serious, then said, decisively, "Okay, I believe you. I think I finally figured it out. Spread the word around your grade that I think I've figured out where Kira is."

Shinji looked unsure for a second, lingering between whether or not to ask Ayu what she had realized. Then, by looking at Ayu's face, her mouth in a grim line of determination, realized that he would not get any answers. He shook his head, smiled lightly at Ayu and ran back towards his own classroom, leaving Ayu to wonder what had made him so happy.

Then she realized it, the reason he was so happy. 

_Ayu, you need hope._

_Kira gave you that hope back when you were six._

_If she ever goes away, you must make your own hope, or God forbid, you will end up as an empty shell. _

_And I know you don't want to be so dependant on others._

Ayu smiled slightly as she remembered who had said that to her. She walked away, towards her classroom, whistling a happy tune.

* * *

_**Part B**_

_**Meeting**_

_**That Night**_

_**7 PM**_

"As you may already know, there is a new Kira look alike wandering around this school, we have reason to believe that it is her," Ayu said.

"I don't think it's her," Miri said, unabashedly.

"Why do you think that?" Ayu said, a tick mark already appearing. 

"Her eyes were black," Miri said, "Those eyes were glaring at me enough for me to know that they were normally blue. Actually, blue-grey. This girl, Suki, had eyes that were pitch black. It can't be Kira."

"Well, I know how it can be Kira, and her eyes can be black without it not being her. Well, it's her body anyways."

"Could you explain it to us?" Elle said, "We do not study what I think you're getting at, here, at the Academy."

"You study more things, just not the same, so I would be happy to, to thank you for your kindness," Ayu said, "You have went out of your way to help us with our search."

"It is nothing," Jenny said, "Kira is our friend too."

"Yep!" Lily said.

"Anyway, Suki is wearing a locket with quite a bit of history. It is nearly a hundred years old, and has the initials SH on it," Ayu said, "Kira was the last one to wear it, she and I found it France last year. I think that the locket's previous owner, Suki Honda, may be possessing Kira's body."

"What you're trying to say, is that…" Ai trailed off, looking slightly worried. 

"What? Suki Honda died years ago! I did research on the entirety of the Honda family so I could find the origins of the curse. But there was a huge void in the information. I could only find the name of Suki Honda, that she had an arranged marriage, she wears a locket with her initials and she is our great-grandmother. Nothing else! I even asked Lady Kine, but she knew nothing, or she didn't tell me," Miri panicked, then instantly silenced, then began again, more quietly this time. "The Locket, of course, that makes sense. But if she has such a presence, that means we only have a few options, doesn't it, Ayu?"

"You're right. We have about five options to save Kira," Ayu said, "I dislike all of them." Ayu paused for a moment, then began, "We should try the first two before we even consider, or talk about the other three, they are so dangerous, for us all. The first method is to send a shock into the system. Basically something so shocking has to happen, that Kira will step in and do something. All that is needed is something shocking. However, if it's too shocking, Kira may never come back.

"The second is less complicated. We use the same mechanism that we use to switch out of our dark forms. Mine is on my arm," Ayu rolled up her sleeve, to reveal a long white bandage. As she unwound the bandage from around her arm, a red streak, soon to be a scar was revealed. "That man, 3, who I was fighting during the battle gave me this. It was his way of getting me out of my Demon state. To demonstrate the way we would get rid of Suki." 

Ayu brought her hand on her forearm and then her eyes flashed orange. An orange lion appeared on her forearm. The orange eyed demon smirked flexing her fingers; she said "Ange, I see you have not let me have full control. Whatever, best appreciate the time I have." Then orange eyes looked around the room. "Is she having a meeting of some kind?" She rolled her eyes, "Ange, I just got out…Fine, but you owe me." She lightly touched her arm. 

Ayu's eyes turned green again. "That was Demon. She's my dark side, I didn't let her have full control, but you get the idea. Anyway, Kira's is on her lips…"

"We'll let Momiji do that then," Lily said.

Momiji blushed, and said "W-what?"

"Everyone knows you two like each other. Duh!" Shinji and Toji said in unison, further embarrassing Momiji. 

"And of course, true to their nature, Shinji and Toji acting like meddling old ladies tried to set you two up. It seems you two did well for yourselves though," Ayu said, "Honestly, it was so unnecessary. She told me she would give you a letter, dummy, she should have told you in person."

"Kira is shy in those ways, you should know that Ayu," Elle said, sipping a cup of tea. 

"Anyway, let's mock Kira when she's actually here. More fun, that way. Anyway, we'll try number one first. Miri, you tend to rile Kira up the most, so you can come up with ideas, if you need help, just ask any of us," Ayu said. Miri nodded, somewhat distracted, "I guess the meeting is over, see you in class tomorrow!" Ayu said. Then everyone went their separate ways. 

* * *

_**Part C**_

_**Miri's True Feelings**_

_**1 AM: Later that Night**_

I guess I kind of seem mean, but I don't care. 

I know it is not Kira's fault. You know, that my branch of the family is hated. 

I never really hated her. In the beginning, it was admiration. 

She was the daughter of the great number one of the Agency, Katsuya Honda. She was never ignored. She was loved by almost everyone. She was a genius. She was good at almost everything. She was wonderful, a natural leader, a prodigy, and a good person. She was kind, and charismatic. She was flawless. She had everything.

I was the daughter of the greatest coward and disgrace of the Honda family and the Agency. I had nothing. I was always ignored. My mother ran off. My Father, always trying to get back on top, was always working. A worthless shell of a man. I was bad at everything. I always had to work ten times harder than everyone else, to even dream of being like Kira. I had to work hard to get anywhere. I was either ignored or hated. I am still not sure which is worse. I was awful. I was stupid, a follower, practically brain dead, and an awful person. I was naturally cruel and could not inspire. I had countless flaws. I had nothing. 

Over time, I began to lose the initial admiration. And so, it turned to hate and envy. That's why I always despised her. Kira, being an angel, did not hate me at first. She was even kind to me. What did I do? I made her hate me. 

Even worse, I dragged Ai into it. Later, I brought Leiko into it. I thought I was cool. I thought I was the best. I could even defeat Kira a few times. 

But then, when I was ten, I realized something. 

Kira was not a pillar of perfection. 

It was June. I can see people's dreams. What I saw…I should not have seen it. It's none of my business. It was a nightmare. I can not face it. I will not tell it. It was awful. I still can see that skeleton in her closet peeping out at me in my own dreams. I cannot forget it. 

Kira's demons also seem to haunt me as well as her. I guess it is give and take. She can see my demons whenever she wants, why shouldn't I see hers?

We are closer than sisters. And yet, we hate each other. Isn't that odd? I guess we just know too much. 

I know I can't defeat her, in this new game, the one that matters most. But still, I'll fight 'til the end. Like I always do. Like I always will. That's another thing we have in common…

Don't we, Kira?

* * *

**_End of Chapter 6_**

****

Author's Note: I am so sorry! It has been so long since I updated! I hope someone is still reading... Anyway, It is the end of another chapter. Chapter 7 will be longer. Also, it is almost the one year anniversary of this fic! Yay!

By the way, please review! I'll attempt to update again by the anniversary, or the end of this weekend.Thanks for Reading!


	7. Interval Chapter: Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket

Note: This Chapter is an "Interval Chapter" aka it is shorter than all of the other chapters by a lot. (About 900 words less than the last chapter.) I wanted to include this however, since it is somewhat important the plot, and had been on my mind for a while. I also wanted to keep it its own chapter.

On another note, I will be cross posting this story somewhere else as well. (Maybe?) I will let you all know as soon as I do it. Note: It will be starting at the beginning. Also, it will be edited. It will not be enough to change the plot, but enough where I will be replacing the old story's chapters. (Tales of on Onigiri One).

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

English

Japanese 

**French**

* * *

Chapter 7

Darkness

_**Interval Chapter:**_

_**In Ice**_

_**Kira POV**_

* * *

I don't think I have ever felt so cold. The numbing effect of this ice, it feels never ending.

Why do I feel so at peace in this eternity? One should feel uneasy in such eternal darkness. Why can't I feel any sense of time? I could have been here for a second or a decade, I can't tell anymore.

At random, visions of the past come to me. It seems I can see the past better in this state, without distractions, or noise, even in my head from my guardians or Dark. I wonder how Dark is doing. She looked so scared. I've never seen her look like that. What was she trying to warn me against? I don't know. I kind of wish I did. What if something had happened to Tohru or Momiji? No. She probably only wanted control. That would make sense. In my visions, I have seen quite a bit. Not everything, but a lot.

However, visions exhaust even the most experienced seers, so after the visions I sleep. These dreams are nightmares, not visions, but I think they scare me even more. They are my greatest fears, my past horrors, and my cruel, over active imagination's musings mixed together. That night…

No. Never again. I am forced to relive it in my nightmares; I will not relive it in my moments of being awake, in this cold infinity.

But even this ice cold endlessness is better than the outside world. After all, the worst thing that can happen to me is myself in here. Out there, there are others to contend with, and the worst thing out there may just be someone else, someone even worse than myself.

Even though I am the worst. Don't try to say I'm not 'cause I am. Ask Miri, she can list off all my faults without holding back. I can hear her now, saying "She is annoying, obnoxious, and doesn't consider others. Worst of all, she is weak and pathetic, and she does not even realize it!" You should ignore the fact that she was beaten the last time by me, but essentially, she is right. (I'm not too sure about the annoying and obnoxious part though.) I've thought this for a long time, the battle with Syphos only proved it.

Too bad the lines of what I'm supposed to be and what I am are getting so blurred. I used to think I was what I was supposed to be. As third in the Agency, I'm expected to be a natural leader (good enough to lead a squad of nearly a hundred, and still know all of them by name), powerful (albeit, not as powerful as numbers one and two, but still…), and most of all, not losing to anyone outside of the agency. That is one of the most embarrassing things to happen to an agent, unless absolutely everyone else has lost. For a third…it is the worst. One can face demotion, even prison time. But that is not as important as what I lost. I can handle losing a position, even to Miri. I could even handle prison time. I could have handled anything but the price for that battle.

The price for losing was Tohru.

Then, there is my cowardly behavior. My price for running away? Momiji.

What is this pain inside my chest? It feels as if my chest is being torn apart, and I can't breathe. Is this what people call suffocating sadness? It could be. Is this feeling is the one of my heart breaking? It might be. I really don't know. It seems I don't know anything anymore…

I've only felt this way once…

My sorrowful regret seems to go in circles. I'm running out of time, I know this, even with the loss of time awareness. I only know this, in order to come out ever, I need to leave, or else the ice will get too thick. Suki will be in charge _**forever**_ if this happens. There's a part of me that wishes I could stay in here forever, like Suki wants. I wish I could be more like the legend, the person everyone always compares me to…she would never succumb to such weakness…I always have wanted to be like her…that true hero…

I want to scream. But I can't, being encased in this ice. Another punishment, one that I have accepted, for that is yet another price of being sealed off from the world.

I am not doing this for myself. I am protecting others, even in this act of protection of myself. Is it not good for a monster to be locked up?

The blame I put myself is suffocating. The blame others must be putting on me must be huge. I wonder if they have given up yet on bringing me back. In some ways, I hope so…they need to figure out how to get back Tohru first…she's more important…I wonder if she even wants to see me…this is the third time I've let her down in two years…how pathetic.

I am so useless. The useless burden, the dragon, strikes again, huh?


	8. Ways to Tell if Someone is a Good Person

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket

English

Japanese

**French**

_Thoughts (or Written)_

* * *

Chapter 8

Ways to Tell if Someone is a Good Person

Ayu was not able to sleep. She was staring at the ceiling, bored out of her mind. This was typical now that Kira and Tohru were gone; she was the head of the family and, of course, there was the fact that she may have to save the day. _Typical, _Ayu thought, pulling her hand through her hair, _The one time I need her, she's not here. _

Ayu sat up, and looked at her clock, _2AM. Way too early, but I suppose I can do some research, even though **I** have no flair for it. _Turned on her lamp, tied a bathrobe around herself, and decided to make breakfast for herself. The delicious breakfast consisted of a protein bar and a cup of coffee. _Oh, **joy**._ Ayu hated coffee and Protein Bars, but they gave her energy and sweet caffeine, which was better than nothing. So, she shoved down her protein bar, and chugged her coffee quickly, as not to let the taste reach her taste buds. She shuddered, and proceeded to take out a large book and stare at it for a while. No, not read, stare. She stopped looking at her book and rubbed her eyes, exhausted. The large strain on her body from not enough sleep was not making her stressed mind feel any better.

Ayu got up, to make herself some green tea (lots of caffeine!), when she heard a knock on her door. She walked over, and slowly, opened the door. There was no one there, she looked to her left and to her right, and then looked down at the ground in front of her door. There lay a letter.

She picked it up and felt the letter carefully making sure there was nothing that was going to blow up in her face in the letter. She went back inside, closed the door to her dorm, and set the letter on her desk as she sat down. She fumbled in her desk drawers to find a letter opener, as Kira had always said that letter openers were much cooler than simply ripping open the envelope's flap, and had forced her to use one. She pulled out the letter and to her surprise, was written as if the person had taken the letters from magazines. _How old fashioned..._

It read:

_We know what you are trying to do. We can help. Meet us tomorrow at midnight._

_-RS, RS, and RS_

Ayu frowned and tucked the letter into the lockable drawer in her desk, as she closed it, she sighed and allowed herself to lean back in her chair, to think quietly about who the RSs could be, raking through her memories to see if she had ever met RSs.

Her eyes opened, she herself had never met this person. She got up, and pulled a box from under her bed. There was each of Kira's letters there, all stacked neatly inside their envelopes. She began looking through the letters, and unfolded the second one from last year, wanting to reread them in order for answers. She began to read:

_Dear Ayu,_

_How are you? I hope you, Shino, and Hiromo are doing well. I am happy that you could take care of Shino while I am away. After all, she is my goddaughter, albeit, Hiromo is your godson, so I guess it does work out. Thanks anyway, though._

_How is Tohru doing? I hope she is still happy at Grandpa's._

_I also hope Haya and Sada are doing well. I heard that their last mission was not a great success, and that they had both been injured. Strange, huh? It isn't every day two of the top 50 in the Agency get hurt. What was the mission anyway?_

_Anyway, school is good. I've made new friends since I came here. Three of them are named Lily, Jenny, and Elle. They are very nice. Lily is slightly insane and is probably the kind of person who would annoy you to no end. Jenny is the most like you, I think. Although, you show a lot more emotion than she does. However, I think you act and think similarly. Elle panics a lot. She freaks out if the smallest thing does not go her way, and if I even suggest that she like a guy that everyone knows she likes except for the guy, she flips out, turning this hilarious color of red, becoming chibi-like, running around like a chicken with its head cut off, and denying it very loudly to the stars. It helps that they both like each other though._

_A note, the guy's name is Romulus Sanders. He is in a set of triplets, and his brothers are Remus and Richard. They are all identical. However, due to my long exposure to identical twins (Haya and Sada), or twins that make themselves identical for fun (Shinji and Toji), I can tell them apart easily. Romulus is **really** outgoing, and is friends with almost everyone. I'm really just acquainted with him however. He also seems very vain. Also, Jenny doesn't seem to like him…_

_Remus is like his polar opposite, he is very quiet, and rarely talks to anyone but his brothers. He's always reading. I think he's a really nice person. Why? Because anyone who's eyes can turn soft when looking at a book cannot be a bad person. He does not seem mean when talking to his brothers, except for when he argues with Romulus, but being Polar Opposites can make this possible. He also dislikes milk…_

Ayu laughed as she remembered Kira's "Ways to see if someone is a bad person" She could list them even when Kira hadn't brought them up in years. However she honestly didn't think of naming the whole list. They were:

1. If one loves books

2. If one hates milk

3. If one is deeply loyal to the people they care about

It seemed as if this Remus guy had accomplished all three, so Ayu continued to read…

_I don't like him, like him, he just seems interesting, but in a good way, like you were, when first met you, after all, it isn't everyday one finds a little girl lying in the snow, unconscious and obviously hurt. It also isn't everyday a boy falls on you from a tree. I think it may be, sorry for being overly dramatic, fate._

_Anyway, about the third one, Richard, he is kind of the middleman. He is like both his brothers; it is like he is the bridge between the two poles and stops most of the brothers' brawls, before they become physical, which is good. He also seems kind, well, kind enough to break up the two. However, it seems as if Remus and Romulus are the only things that matter to him. I think that's kind of odd. But then again, I only really care about you, Toh-nee, and my books, so I guess I'm the same way._

_They just seem so interesting. It is odd that I can possibly be so interested in anyone, since I was never really._

_I have to go to class now. Please continue to give me reports on Tohru,_

_-Kira_

Ayu rubbed her eyes, after noticing that her eyes were getting tired. She decided that it was time to go to bed, and that the rest of the letters could wait. Ayu slipped into bed, looked over to her clock and read that it was 7AM, time to get ready for school. She groaned, and got out of bed again. She got ready for school, but on her way out, grabbed a few letters, and put them in her backpack.

_If I have to listen to teachers yack, I might as well do something important._ she thought, then she left, shutting the door behind her.

**_End of Chapter 8_**

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the wait! I hope you enjoyed it, and will review!


	9. Letters from Disappearance

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fruits Basket._

English

_Thoughts (or written)_

* * *

Chapter 9

Letters from Disappearance

Ayu's classes for the day had just ended. She had had no time to read the rest of the letters. Ayu had decided to retreat back into her room to do some homework, eat, do some research, and may be read some more of the letters.

Ayu sat down at her desk again, and took out the third letter Kira had sent to her. It read:

_Ayu,_

_I am writing this letter in class, so I don't have much time. Don't start nagging me about how I should really be paying attention. I'm a genius, and honestly, it's really boring. Seriously, I've read all these books in English. Anyway, I have some things to tell you. But, first on the topic of Tohru._

_Grandpa's getting renovations on his house? Where will Tohru stay now? She won't _wa_nt to be a burden to anyone, although she would not be. I hope she does well. Uo or Hana can take her in, if the worst happens. But if she is in danger, I'll help her out, Kine or no Kine. _

_Anyway, School has been doing well. My English and History teachers adore me. So what if my Math and Science teachers dislike me? I'm fine with it. My English and History teachers are the ones that really matter anyway._

_Anyway, Elle, Jenny, and Lily say hi. Lily is saying this pretty loudly. Elle is panicking that I'm writing during the class that I'm the worst in, yet she still does not want to be rude, so therefore she says hi. Jenny does not really care, I do not think, but she says hi too, 'cause I said so. Anyway, I got Remus to say hi. It took me nearly a month, but I did it. I rule. Ayu stop laughing, I'm serious. The dialogue went like this._

_Me: (Walks over randomly) Hi! What are you reading? _

_Remus: (looking over book) Who are you?_

_Me:Me? I'm Kira! I came here about two months ago._

_Remus: Oh, well, then, pleased to meet you. (attempts to return to his book) _

_Me: Anyway, what are you reading?_

_Remus: (rolls his eyes) A book._

_Me:(shrugs) Well, obviously. But, seriously, the title?_

_Remus: __The Violinist._

_Me: Oh, I wrote that. _

_Remus: No, you did not. _

_Me: Yeah, I kinda did. _

_Remus: Fine, then. Prove it. _

_Me: The violinist, the Protagonist, eventually falls in love with An in the next book. Which, you know, does not come out until tomorrow, you can tell me if I am right tomorrow._

_As you know, Ayu, it is true that I am the author of __The Violinist__, and my book comes out tomorrow, enclosed with this package is an advanced copy of the book. I hope you enjoy it. _

_Hope everyone is okay._

_Write back soon._

_Kira._

Ayu took a deep breath as she leaned back in her chair. She sighed deeply. It was almost like having Kira back in the room with her, the one person who could completely assure her that everything would be okay.

She placed the letter on the desk and closed her eyes. Breathing deeply, she allowed herself to relax for the first time in weeks. She drifted off to sleep. A quick nap would be best before the events later that night.

* * *

**Part B**

**Memories of the Moon**

**Midnight**

Ayu slipped out of the window of her dorm, her hair back in a clip. She was wearing Hanajima-ish clothes. Since she detested skirts, she even downright refused to wear a skirt with her Kaibara uniform, much to the anger of the ex-president, she wore black wide pants, and a black sweatshirt. She was obviously sneaking out. Or robbing a bank. However, she simply does not have the right equipment for a bank robbery.

The moon was full above her. She noticed this as she ran towards where she would meet the triplets. She had gotten a second letter saying to meet them at the top of the clock tower. She ran there, noticing the time was 11:58.

She opened the door leading into the clock tower, and went up a spiral staircase to the top. Standing by the window was the silhouette of a 15 year old boy. He turned to Ayu. His grey eyes twinkled slightly in the moonlight and his brown hair was combed. It was a little long, near his shoulders so he wore it back in a loose ponytail. He wore dark wash jeans and a black t-shirt that was form fitting. He grinned lightly, showing some of his teeth. He put out his right hand and said, "Richard Leer, pleased to meet you. You must be Ayu Honda. We heard you had taken Kine Honda's place. We also heard quite a bit about you from Kira."

Ayu furrowed her brow, "Leer? How come your name seems so familiar?"

Richard put down his hand and said, "I am of the Australian cursed family."

"I knew it sounded familiar. You are in the Leer Agency as well, I understand?" Ayu said.

"Yes, my brothers and I are in the Leer Agency, and are cursed as well."

"Where are these brothers of yours anyway? I thought they would be here," Ayu said, looking around, acting as if one of the brothers may jump out at any moment.

"They are coming in about a week," Richard said, "On…June 1st."

"Okay, then," Ayu said, shrugging. She turned and said, to the boy behind her, "We should discuss this more in the morning, you know, have an official meeting."

Richard shrugged, and smiled, "Whatever you say, Lady Ayumi."

Ayu blushed, and said, "Really, there's no need to call me Lady, Richard, I prefer to be called Ayu."

"Okay, then, Ayu," Richard smiled and they went their separate ways.

* * *

**Part C**

**Richard Leer**

Richard opened the door to his dorm in the blue area of the boys' dorm. He noticed that his bags had been placed in a pile in a corner of his bedroom. He looked at the small alarm clock he had left in the dorm at the end of the previous year. It read 12:30 AM. Already a half hour into a new day.

He walked over to his bags and took out a small bag, inside were letters and pictures from when he was younger. He smiled and took them out. Near the top of the bag were pictures and letters from Kira, and other school friends. There were many of his brothers, Remus reading, Romulus picking up girls, and yet always staying loyal to his girlfriend. He began to place the pictures on his desk, to showcase them in their frames.

He then began to dig deeper into the bag, until she reached the very bottom, where he found the oldest of his pictures. He dug out some pictures, then carefully took out the oldest of his pictures. Holding it delicately, he put it lightly on the desk. He murmured, "I can't believe you do not remember me."

In the picture, a very familiar someone had their arms thrown around a young version of Richard. The two young children were smiling largely. The familiar someone was Ayu Honda. The odd thing was…

_They were not transforming..._

* * *

End of Chapter 9

I am really sorry for the extremely late update of this chapter. A list of the reasons why it is so late:

1) Projects

2) It's almost finals!

3) Homework

4) Teachers

5) No inspiration

6) No motivation

7) School

8) Clarinet Practicing and Band Concerts

9) WRITER'S BLOCK

10) Pure Laziness

Anyways, I'm extremely sorry. However, this may remain a trend until the end of school. I get out on June 18th, so expect a "for sure" update the weekend after, and "may be" one before school ends. Also, sorry for the shortness.

So, Please review!

-44


	10. Plans

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket

English

Japanese

**French**

_Thoughts_

* * *

Chapter 10

Plans

_**Part A**_

_**Secrets**_

Richard Leer was a smart man, so when Ayu led him back to her room, and called everyone else to see him and hear what he had to say, he was slightly worried. He knew that he was going to have to answer where his brothers were although he did not want to because it was not anywhere good.

The first two to arrive, at the same time, were Shinji and Toji. It was Shinji who spoke first. "Who is this stupid looking guy?"

"Shinji…" said Toji. "I'm sorry for his behavior," Toji bowed at Richard, "But, I will re-ask his question. Who are you?"

"My name is Richard Leer. I'm an Elite Master Agent from the Australian Agency."

"Pleased to me-."

"What rank are you?!" Shinji shouted.

Richard blinked, "Huh?"

"What rank?" Shinji said, "I want to know how that agency considers us."

"Oh," Richard said, "I'm third. What are you?"

Shinji deflated. "Not tellin'."

Richard smirked briefly, then turned to the door. There stood Elle, Lily, and Jenny. "RICHARD!" Elle shouted. She then hugged him, separated, and said, "Where's Romulus?"

"He's coming next week. On June 1st."

"YAY!" Elle said. Ayu had never seen Elle so happy.

Rachel and Ren (Elle's sisters, in case you forgot.) stood in the doorway. Ren was yawning and sitting in Rachel's arms. "Hi, Richard," Rachel nodded to Richard.

"Rachel," he nodded back.

"Richard-nii," yawned Ren, "I'm glad you're back."

"I better get you back to bed, eh, **ma petite soeur**?"

"**D'accord, Rachel,"** Ren yawned, falling asleep already on Rachel's shoulder. She said, "**Bonne nuit!"**

Elle said, "**Bonne nuit! Vois-tu en matin!" **

Rachel said, "Just so you know, Elle, tell me what happened in the morning. Jenny will tell me if you don't." Elle nodded. With Ren now asleep on her shoulder, Rachel turned and walked out of the room, closing the door with a click.

Elle turned and noticed that everyone had arrived while she and her sisters were speaking. Yuki was in a daze and Kyo was slightly grumpy. Haya and Sada were already wide awake. Only Mika and Tatsuya seemed as if they had already been awake. Momiji was half asleep.

All were sleepy and Richard knew this. But still, he was unprepared for the question Elle asked. "Where is Romulus and Remus?"

Richard decided to tell the truth. "They were injured on the last mission we went on."

Elle gasped. Jenny asked for her, brow furrowing, "How are they?"

"They'll be fine. Remus has a broken leg and Romulus has a punctured lung and a few broken ribs. They'll be fine, but it'll take a while for them to recover."

Elle nodded and fell silent. Ayu asked, "What were they doing that would make Elite members in the Australian Agency get so banged up?"

"We went on a mission. We were looking for something, but met some people who were looking for the same thing. We fought but we were out numbered. I called in a retreat order and a pick up when Romulus punctured his lung because he was trying to be too heroic and when Remus was being too stubborn, fighting three guys at once, and broke his leg. The idiots," Richard rolled his eyes, "I had to carry the two stubborn fools all the way to the helicopter landing site, while fighting at least 20 guys, with no help."

Ayu nodded, knowing Richard could not tell her more because it was confidential in his agency and she was the head of a rival agency.

"Anyway," Richard said, "I have come here on business." He knelt in front of Ayu, grabbed her hand, and pressed it to her forehead. He released it, then said, "On behalf of the Australian Agency of the Leers, we hereby give you, Lady Ayumi Honda, and your agency, the Japanese Agency of the Hondas, our aid during your recovery from Syphos' recent attack."

Ayu thought this over for a minute and said, "We humbly accept your services."

Richard rose, and said, "Okay, I'll tell our head as soon as possible that you accepted our invitation."

"Thank you," Ayu said, "Anyway, can you tell me what you may know of Tohru's whereabouts and ways to get Kira back?"

Richard said, "Yes, I can tell you now that you have accepted our help," Richard smiled, awing Ayu by the happiness he was showing. His smile was perfect. "But, I probably won't explain it well. It'd be best if Remus explained things about the curse, He was the one who helped Kira find the information last year," Richard paused, "Actually, Remus could explain almost everything better than I could. You can wait for him. He ought to be here soon. Sometime this week, Romulus will take longer but…" Richard shrugged.

Ayu sighed, "Fine, then," she waved her hand, "Go away. I want to sleep." Everyone left and went to sleep except for Romulus who went to his dorm. He looked out his window, at the moon.

* * *

_**Part B**_

_**Miri's Plan**_

The next day, Miri decided to go talk to Ayu about some serious business, a.k.a. her old rival. She knocked on the door of Ayu's dorm and heard Ayu shout, "Come in!"

She opened the door to find Ayu sitting at her desk, a chair in front of it. "Oh, it's you Miri," Ayu said, surprised, "Well, sit down," Miri sat in the wooden chair. "So, Miri, what is it?"

"Ayu," Miri said, "I may have an idea of how to get back my dear rival."

Ayu's brows furrowed, "I wasn't expecting you to come up with a way to save your 'dear rival', but if you have an idea, shoot."

"Well," Miri frowned and whispered it into Ayu's ear. After a few moments, she pulled away.

Ayu frowned, "How do you know that code? It's Kira's."

Miri smiled, "Se-cr-et!" and pressed a finger to her lips.

Ayu sighed, and said, "Fine, whatever. I'll approve it, I hope it succeeds."

"Thank You Ayu," Miri said. She moved to get up but was stopped by a motion of Ayu's hand.

"Just one question before you leave," Ayu said, "Why do you care so much if Kira gets back or not?"

Miri considered if she should tell Ayu the truth. She said, "Because, I slightly miss my rival. We really inspired each other to get better when we were little. I also want to kick her butt to make her pay for making us go looking for her. Does that answer your question **Lady** Ayu?"

"No," Ayu said, "But I doubt I'll get any other answers today."

"And you doubt correctly," Miri smirked and left the room.

Ayu sighed, rubbing her eyes. _The things I have to deal with,_ she got up and sat on the couch, wanting to take a nap and watch some TV, _and if Miri's plan doesn't work, I fear for us all..._

_**END OF CHAPTER 10**_

* * *

Sorry for the extremely long wait! I got distracted and had writer's block. Anyway, please review! I'll try to update soon!

Translation of parts in French:

"I better get you back to bed, eh, **my little sister**?"

"**Okay, Rachel,"** Ren yawned, falling asleep already on Rachel's shoulder. She said, "**Goodnight!"**

Elle said, "**Goodnight! See you in the morning!" **


	11. Failure

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

English

Japanese

**French**

_Writing/Thoughts_

* * *

Chapter 11

Failure

_**Part A **_

_**May 31**__**st**_

Momiji was watching Mogeta when he heard a knock on his door. He opened the door and said, "Hello?"

There was no one there. He then noticed a note on his door. He grabbed the note, and walked inside. The note was a piece of beige paper folded over once, the ends taped together, with a word scrawled on it: Momiji. Momiji frowned and opened the letter. In the same writing it was written:

_Momiji, _

_Meet me at the front door of the girl's dorm at 8PM tonight. I need to speak to you. _

_Miri_

Momiji's brow furrowed, _Why does Miri want to see me? _Momiji looked at the clock and noticed it was 7:30. He smiled and loosened his Loup Academy tie. He slipped off his suit jacket and fell back on his couch. He turned on the TV, and decided to watch Mogeta for a half hour until he has to leave to see Miri.

* * *

_**Part B**_

_**Miri's Plan**_

Miri put on a short dark wash jean skirt and a low cut red tee shirt. She put on red lip gloss and eye shadow. She put on mascara and laced up her leather high heeled boots.

She went out of her dorm room at 7:50 and headed downstairs. As she went down, she passed Ayu. Ayu nodded at her, but Miri ignored her. Ayu stared as Miri headed down. She frowned and thought, _If all goes well tonight, then Kira will return. But if not, we may not have any options left unless Remus can come up with something. Good luck... to all of us._

Miri continued downstairs. She went and stood outside the doors of the dorms. Then Momiji ran up. He smiled at Miri and as he caught his breath said, "I'm sorry I'm late. I was doing something…" Miri stopped listening after that. She saw Suki coming from Momiji's right.

"Follow my lead," she said. Momiji did not have the chance to ask for what before she…

…kissed him. The seconds seemed to count down so slowly for Momiji. One second…two seconds…three now…all Momiji could see was what he could just barely glimpse out of the corner of his eye…

The blonde girl was standing there dumbstruck. She was still in her uniform. The girl audibly gasped and her eyes widened. Something very strange happened then. The eyes that had been black flickered back to their original color, blue. The girl's eyes, filling with tears, had returned signifying the old soul's return.

And then Kira ran.

* * *

_**Part C**_

_**Run**_

_**Kira POV**_

I can't breathe.

I feel like I might just die. My heart aches so much. I want to run. I want to scream…

I can feel my eyes dilating, Suki has decided to return already. Why does that not seem so bad…? Although it is night, the lamps along the sidewalks still hurt my eyes. I recognize the place. It was where I spent my last year of middle school and the beginning of high school…but that brings me no comfort.

My eyes are becoming hazy. Dark is already trying to reason with me, "_Kira, don't do this to me! It only hurts us in the long run!"_ But I ignore her, still running I reach the front gate of the school. There I see a familiar face. The glasses. He is leaning against the gate reading. I increase my pace. He is only looking up when I stand in front of him. I can hear Momiji running after me, calling my name.

But it is gone. I no longer care what he thinks. What anyone thinks. I grab the book and throw it to the ground. It is my newer book. _The Pianist._ Under my penname. It hits the ground with a dull thud. I then close my eyes and think, _It'll end for me now..._

* * *

_**Part D**_

_**Never Again**_

_**Momiji POV**_

_The moment I saw it, my world fell apart. _

_Kira, my heart…_

_**END MOMIJI POV**_

Momiji stood watching Kira. There she stood. Kissing Remus Leer.

_**End of Chapter 11**_

* * *

44: So ends another chapter of Tales of an Onigiri.

Kira: You made me kiss Remus.

Remus: That was disgusting.

44: Yeah?

Kira: I wanted to kiss Momiji. He is now very sad about it too.

44: Sorry.

Kira: And you did not update in almost a month.

44: I know T.T And I apologize. (bows)

Kira: Just checking. By the way please give 44 some reviews. It helps her update.

44: By the way, I am very sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but it had to be a separate section from the rest of the chapter. A few announcements: 1) I am now back in school. 2) I am going to try to edit the first part of this story. It will be done so all can see and read the original version as I write the edit. So if you see 2 TOAO1s it is ok. If you want to reread it, that's awesome. Certain things will be changing, but the original plot is essentially the same. Thanks for reading. Please review!


	12. Sorry! Only an Author's Note

Readers of _Tales of an Onigiri _and _Fruits Basket Fairy Tales,_

Sorry for the long wait! It was due to homework, lack of inspiration, and NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Sorry once again.

I will try to publish the next chapter of _Tales of an Onigiri_ first… (Sorry, _FBFT_ readers!)…primarily because it is planned out. It will probably update sometime this weekend, hopefully on Saturday, but probably on Sunday, so keep your eyes open!

_Fruits Basket Fairy Tales, _because I have to plan a new fairy tale, will not be out until Wednesday, if even then. So hope Wednesday, expect later, probably around next Friday.

If you are reading this, please review for any previous chapters you have not reviewed for. If you have any questions, please PM me.

-44


	13. An Interesing Eventis Kinda Bad

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fruits Basket_.

Japanese

English

**French**

_Thoughts/Writing_

Chapter 13

An Interesting Event…

Is Kinda Bad

_**Part 1**_

_**Reaction**_

Suki broke away from Remus, and stepped away, wiping her mouth. She turned and began to walk away.

"Kira?" Remus asked. He pushed his glasses up his nose. "Or are you that Suki-**thing**?" He stopped leaning on the wall. He looked needy and alone. Suki turned. "Well? Are you?" he questioned.

"Who do I look like?" Suki said.

Remus walked over to her, and said, "You look exactly like her, except…" he stared into her eyes, "…you are not her, are you?"

"I am not," she said. Then they turned as they heard someone run away. It was a certain blonde boy.

"Well," Suki said. "There goes the girl's little boy toy."

"You mean _**that's**_ Momiji!" Remus said. "Well, shit."

"Well," Suki said. "Goodbye." She turned, and walked away.

He watched her for a second, went back over to the place he had been standing, and picked his book off the ground. He muttered, "Bitch."

But, unfortunately, a certain brother of his was right behind him as he said this.

"Rem?" the brother said. "What is wrong?"

Remus sighed, "Romulus…you are such an idiot with awful timing."

"WHAT?!" Romulus shouted. "I do not! Take that back!"

"I will not if it is the truth," Remus refused. Romulus began to pout noticeably. "Rom," Remus sighed. "I believe I just made a big mistake."

"Was it your fault?"

"Not really."

"Then, it is okay," Romulus shrugged. "As long as it is not your fault." Remus then began to walk away. "Hey! Wait! Where are you going?!" Romulus looked at all of their bags. "Man…"

_**Part 2**_

_**Noticing Everything**_

Remus was angry.

He was boiling mad. So mad, that he was sure smoke was coming out of his ears.

Now, one could not tell he was angry on the outside unless they knew him extremely well. He had always been good at keeping up facades, so good almost no one could tell except for really, Richard, Romulus, Elle, Lily, and Kira. Kira had thought he was a snob at first…she had laughed as she said this…but when she looked closely she could see how he was acting. He was acting as if he was hiding. And she was right. He was hiding.

As Remus reached the girls' dormitory, he only had one thought on his mind. _Something had hurt Kira. _He had clearly seen her eyes as her normal blue, but had realized that someone had allowed it to happen. To find out who had done it, he knew exactly who to ask.

He went upstairs and walked down three doors down from the stairs on the right. He knocked on the door. The door in front of him opened and Remus said, "Is your name Ayumi Honda?"

In the doorway, stood Ayu. She was in black yoga pants and a grey tee-shirt. She yawned and said, "Yes. Are you one of Richard's brothers?"

Remus straightened and held out his right hand, thought about it for a moment and put his hand back to his side. "My name is Remus Leer."

Ayu nodded, "Kira talked about you."

"She probably did," Remus said. "May I come inside?"

"Sure," Ayu said. She moved back and held the door open for him. He walked in. "May I make you some tea? Coffee?"

"Um…yes. Some coffee would be nice," Remus accepted. Ayu walked into the kitchen as Remus sat in a nice deep red upholstered chair. He sat in the chair stiffly, trying to act normally. He took a few deep breaths.

Before he knew it, Ayu was back, setting Remus' steaming mug of coffee on the table. "Do you take your coffee black?" she asked.

"Well, no. I do not usually drink coffee."

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Ayu took a sip of her coffee, placed it back on the table, and said, "So, why are you here?"

Remus paused and said, "I saw Kira today. Right before she kissed me."

"The plan worked?!" Ayu shouted. She jumped up. "Why did no one-!?"

"Tell you?" Remus said as calmly as he could. "Because it did not work. Whatever your plan was _**Lady**_ Ayumi Honda-sama."

"How did you know I was the head of the Honda Agency?"

"The Leer Agency rivals your own, Lady Honda, and it would be foolish to think we were not aware of the death of the former Lady Honda. You should not underestimate us." Remus said. He took a sip of coffee to help calm him down.

"I know that," Ayu said. "You can call me Ayu."

"Okay then, Ayu," Remus said. "Tell me what you did."

"Miri, do you know who Miri Honda is?"

"Of course I do," Remus snapped. Ayu looked taken aback. "Kira mentioned her."

"Well," Ayu said. "She came to me with a plan to help Kira."

"Why would you believe her? According to Kira, Miri hates her."

"As Kira hates Miri...but Miri is not one to shirk her responsibilities."

"Right...are you sure Miri would not make an exception just this once?"

"Positive," Ayu said. "Do you want to hear it or not?"

"Yes."

"Well, the plan was for her to kiss Momiji, the boy Kira likes..."

"You do not have to tell me who everyone is. I have heard from Kira."

"Right. Anyway, the kiss would be in front of Kira."

"To shock her out of her current state," Remus finished calmly. He took a final sip out of his coffee and said, "That was the dumbest plan ever."

"Excuse me?!"

"You heard me," Remus said. "You should never have tried to shock her out. I shall give you the fact that it worked, but she reverted as soon as she reaped her revenge upon Momiji. The fatal flaw in your plan was this: you did not tell Momiji. He may have prevented you from making this dumb mistake and even if he did not, he may have been able to catch Kira in time, to tell her it was part of the plan. Not to mention, it had for too much of a risk involved. But now, it will be nearly impossible to get Kira out. If we can not, I blame you."

"Why would you blame me?! At least I tried something."

"There is a difference between trying something stupidly and trying something _wisely, _Ayu. You probably have not received any advice. Well, I am about to give you some. THINK ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES. You are no longer the only person that matters."

"I never thought that."

"Yes, you did, and you know it. You only want Kira to return so she can help you. It is time to think about others. I am not saying never to think of you. According to Kira, Tohru has gotten in a lot of trouble because of that. But, the time has come for you to consider others inside your agency."

Ayu protested, "But I do not know what to do without her. She saved me!"

Remus looked at her for a long moment, and looked at her as if she was foreign to him. "The Ayu I know would not talk like that!"

"YOU DO NOT KNOW ME!!"

Remus froze. His eyes widened for a split second, as if he had said something incredibly horrifying to him, as if he had forgotten something crucial. He got up suddenly, and said, "I am sorry, Ayumi." He began to walk towards the door. "I have to go…I need to unpack my stuff." He swung open Ayu's door and ran out.

Ayu stared after him, got up and shut the door. She muttered, as she sat back in her chair, "Why does it feel as if something is being kept from me?"

**_Part 3_**

**_Memory Loss_**

Meanwhile, Remus ran outside. He ran to his favorite tree, a tall oak. The leaves were green above him. He collapsed underneath it, taking wheezing breaths, as he rested against the trunk. He bit his lip as he looked up at the full moon, the stars twinkling around it. He said, "Poor Richard…"

"What about me?" a voice said from behind him. Richard popped up from behind him and sat down next to him. "Rom told me that you ran off, but I had a feeling you would end up here."

"Wow. So Rom actually noticed something, that's a first."

"He notices things, rarely, but still," Richard said, sighing. "Our little brother…he can be such a fool sometimes."

"He would not be him without it."

The brothers sat in silence for a few moments. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Remus…I know you better that that. Tell me."

"Fine, fine, you are such a nag," Remus sighed. He frowned and said, "I saw Ayu."

Richard sucked in a breath and said, "And?"

"I just can not believe it…" Remus said. He looked incredibly sad for a moment, and then stared into his brother's eyes. "She really has forgotten everything."

_**End of Chapter 12**_

A/N: I am sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I was going to add more, but I did not have time. Thank you for reading! Please review!


	14. A New Dawn

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

Japanese

English

German

French

Thoughts/Letters/Flashbacks

Part Change

Chapter 14

A New Dawn

Part A

Retrieval

The day after the disaster, Momiji was not in class. Nor was Ayu. Remus, Romulus, and Richard were reintroduced to the class, which welcomed them back with open arms.

"ELLE-BEAR!"

"ROMMY-POO!"

The old couple glomped each other, for they had not seen the other for a total of…five minutes. A group of people, which were Romulus, Remus, Richard, Elle, Jenny, and Lily, were walking towards the meeting place for the day's meeting-Ayu's Room.

When they arrived, Richard knocked on the door. The door was opened by Sada. She shut the door as she slipped out. She smiled sadly, and said, "I'm sorry that I did not get a chance to tell you all this, but the meeting place has been moved to Kira nee-san's library…we're opening it today, because we need to get information out of it. Have you all been in it before?"

Remus nodded. "Yes, we have."

"Good, then I do not have to explain to you the rules?"

"No."

"That's great!" Sada said, straightening her Loup Elementary uniform. "Come quickly! Only Haya knows the code to open the library, so if we miss the opening, we won't be able to get in until after the meeting!"

With no further prodding, they all ran to the elevator. Elle took out her key and unlocked a box underneath the normal buttons of the elevator. In the inside of the box, five buttons glowed. Elle pressed the button that had the number 55 on it, before hugging her boyfriend. She rubbed her face into her chest, before looking up at him.

"Aw, Jenny, isn't that cute?" Lily said to Jenny.

"More like nauseating," Jenny said in a monotone. "And it's all thanks to Kira."

"Yup," Richard nodded.

"You guys complaining about mine and Elle-Pie's relationship?" Romulus hugged Elle tighter.

"Well…" Richard said.

"Yes."

Everyone's heads automatically turned to the previously silent and morose Remus. He was glaring at Romulus intensely. Romulus separated from Elle and said, "What d' ya mean by that?"

"Only a true idiot can not understand a simple 'Yes'." Remus spat.

Richard looked on with an expression that could only be seen as pure surprise. Richard thought, He only takes things out on Romulus if he's feeling really crappy. If he's worse than usual, which it looks like he is, I may not be able to keep this from turning into a fight. Damn it, Romulus. Don't let your temper get the best of you…

"Those are fighting words, Rem."

"Why, yes, I believe that they are Romulus."

"Want to go, big bro?"

"Sure, little sis."

Romulus growled deep in his throat, and the doors of the elevator sprung open. They both shot out of the elevator, and stood in front of the other. They went into their pockets, and grabbed a dagger. Remus had one with a black hilt, and Romulus had one with a white hilt. They shouted together, "DRAW!!"

A huge cloud of smoke rose with those words. When it cleared, Remus and Romulus had not moved from their positions. They were now dressed in identical robes, only Remus was in a white robe, and Romulus was in a black one. Their daggers had grown, turning into swords. In their belts swung across their waists, was a dagger and a gun in their respective colors.

Remus and Romulus began to fight, parrying for the upper hand, but neither gaining it. The Hondas and their friends stared in shock. Richard began to fish through his pockets, trying to find his dagger. "Shit," he swore.

"What the hell is going on, Richard?" Shinji asked.

"Remus is taking out his frustrations on Romulus. They're fighting seriously. I need to stop them from doing anything rash…"

"Why don't you just let them fight?" he asked.

"Because, Remus is third in the Leer Agency, and Romulus is fifth in it. Think about if Ayu and Kira fought seriously against each other."

"That would not be good…they could blow up buildings if they tried…"

"Precisely…" Richard said. He finally found the dagger. "Got it!" He shouted, "DRAW!"

After a cloud of smoke passed, it was visible that he was dressed identically to his brothers only in grey.

"BLACK!"

"WHITE!"

The two brothers said this as one, but before they could finish saying the two words that would unleash their power, Richard rushed up and blocked their swords. "Do you two want to blow up the school?! Huh?!"

"Sorry, Rick," Rom apologized. "I just lost my temper." He sheathed his sword, and in a poof of smoke, reverted to how he was before. He bowed towards those who had watched the spectacle. "Sorry for the interruption!" he shouted.

Richard turned towards Remus, "And what about you, huh?"

Remus sheathed his sword, reverted, and quickly bowed towards the crowd. The two walked over to the far wall, with only a person being able to fit in between them.

Richard, now being the only one with his sword still out, sheathed it, reverted, and bowed deeply. "Sorry for my brothers' rudeness," he said. Then he walked over to stand between Romulus and Remus.

"We're talking about this later, understand Rem?" he hissed into Remus' ear. Remus nodded. "You, too, Rom."

"Yes, Rick," the two muttered. Then they each shot the other a glare. Richard sighed.

Haya walked over to the door in front of the elevator, Momiji standing beside it. There was a key pad, with a series of letters on it, supplying the alphabet for every language Kira had known. Haya punched in five characters, and waited a moment. Nothing happened. She put them in again. "Did Kira-nee change it?" she muttered lightly to herself.

Remus walked over, and he punched in a code. The door slid open. "Remus? How did you know the code?" Jenny asked.

Remus smiled lightly. He fished into his pocket, and came out with and envelope. It had written on it Remus' address and the return address was Kira's old home. "Read it, Jenny."

Jenny took the letter out of the envelope and saw that it was Kira's stationary. She read:

Dear Remus,

The Honda Agency is about to have a battle with Syphos, and I may die. Because you are one of my best friends, and can probably understand the seriousness of the situation, I have given you and the one special to me (you already know who it is) a code. They are different, but both will be able to open my library, and access my laptop. Your code is F L I G H T. Cool? But don't tell Momiji that you have the code as well. He'll probably become jealous.

My new novel is complete on my laptop. Please read it before you send it to my editor. Thanks!

You are one of my best friends, and I am sorry things did not work out between us. I have some favors to ask of you, although I probably do not have the right to ask you for them.

First, I would like you to be happy. Feel no regret for anything you do, even if others think you should.

Second, I would like you to consider Jenny's feelings for you. That was one of the reasons why we broke up, remember?

Third, I would like you to help out both Haya and Ayu, even if they end up hating you. I know you are often unintentionally cruel in trying to help others realize things, but trust me, it will be worth it.

Fourth, try not to take things out on Romulus. It isn't good, for either of you.

Finally, I would like you to help Momiji. I confessed my feelings for him in a letter much like this one, and if he did love me, and I died, then he must feel pretty shitty, don't ya think? So please, help him get through it. This is the one that I consider the most important.

Please do not do anything stupid in my absence, as easy as that is! Enjoy The Trumpeter. 

Your Friend,

Kira

Jenny stared at Remus. She gave the letter back to Remus, and went into the library. Remus pocketed the letter. As he walked into the library, he thought, Sorry, Kira, I think I may have failed you in some respects.

Part B

Library Planning

Remus walked into the library and he noticed that it looked exactly like it had the previous year. There were the bookshelves, and millions of books. It reminded him of last year, back when Kira was around. He noticed that Kira's laptop was on the top of a desk, and opened it. He typed in his password, and it came to a screen. He clicked on the Microsoft Word icon and a document appeared on the screen. Remus looked at the document for a moment and gave a low whistle. "Ayu?" he said, "Could you please come here?"

Ayu looked over his shoulder and looked at the document. Her eyes widened and she said, "Damn."

It was Kira's will.

Ayu quickly composed herself and said, "Everyone, sit down at the large table. We need to begin our meeting."

Remus brought the laptop with him as he sat between Richard and Jenny. Ayu cleared her throat. "We -well, really, Remus- found Kira's will. I think that we should read it and-"

Momiji's head snapped up, seeming to come out of a stupor he was once in. "But she's not dead!" he shouted.

"No, Momiji," Ayu said. "She isn't, but, unless we have a plan to get Kira back we must-"

Remus cleared his throat, and Ayu fell silent. He said, "Actually, Ayu, I have an idea." Everyone stared blankly at the eldest Leer triplet, except for Richard, who simply looked at him knowingly. Remus began, "For those of you that don't know, Leer Technology focuses on Information Retrieval as the first step of every mission. Instead of simply rushing into a mission the second we get a lead, we try to harvest more information, unlike our counterparts." He gave a look towards Ayu.

Romulus jumped in, "Anyway, our tech heads, led by Richard here, recently came up with a new piece of technology called "The Door". I don't really understand the mumbo-jumbo that Richard has been jabbering about all week, and I know that Remus doesn't know about it either…" He trailed off as Remus glared at him, cracking his knuckles.

"Rom, Remus, let's not have two fights in one day." Richard said.

"Not even a fist fight?" Romulus whined.

"No." Richard said. He smiled at the others at the table sheepishly and said, "I guess I'm explaining it, since Remus goes off on tangents, and Rom can't talk right now without insulting Remus. Anyway, "The Door," is a secret project my associates and I have been working on for almost two years. I won't get into all of the technical stuff, partially because I'm not allowed. The major function of it is to allow someone into another's mind. All of our tests have proved it to work. But there are a few drawbacks in the technology. First, only one person can go in. If another goes in, we believe the owner of the mind will either go into a coma or die. It is very dangerous to even go into the mind of another, because minds are unpredictable, and your surroundings can change in an instant. If you go, you may not come back, you understand?"

"There's even a better chance of it working than that shitty plan had," Remus said. Miri glared at him, while Momiji simply looked at him, hurt. "Well? Are we going to have to bring The Door here or not?"

"I don't think we have much of a choice." Ayu said slowly.

"I'll take that as a yes," Richard said smiling at Ayu.

"This meeting is pretty much over," Ayu said. "Bye everyone."

Everyone slowly filed out except for Remus and Richard. Richard said, "Remus has something he needs to say to you. Go on Rem."

Richard pushed Remus forward. Remus muttered, "Sorry."

Ayu looked at him blankly for a moment, when she suddenly realized what he was apologizing for. "Oh, it's fine, a lot happened that night."

Ayu began to clean off the meeting table as the two brothers walked to the door. Right before they stepped through it, Ayu asked, "Um. Who's going to use the door?"

Richard turned, and smiled lightly, "I have no idea." Then the door shut behind them with a click, and Ayu never felt more alone.

END OF CHAPTER 14

Author's Note: Nearly 2400 words! I'm so proud of myself. Thanks for reading! Please review!


	15. Teary Eyes Turn Red

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or Sweeney Todd.

English

Japanese

_French_

**German**

_**Part Change**_

_Thoughts/Writing/Flashback_

* * *

**_Chapter 15_**

**_Teary Eyes Turn Red_**

It was getting late, and Richard had just finished making a gazillion phone calls. He needed to talk to his science crew, book a flight from Australia to the US for them and their equipment, and actually start building the damn thing. The last thing he needed was to worry about his brother's little bleeding heart routine, and his other brother's insensitivity to everything.

Too bad he couldn't.

Even though he knew it was stupid, he couldn't help but worry. His parent's sick sense of humor, naming brothers after a murderer and his victim, how could you get any worse? At least his name wasn't Sweeney Todd Leer, or there might be even more problems…

It was then that he heard a knock at his door. He rubbed his temples,_ Time to deal with one of them, probably Rom, he seems to gravitate towards me when he's upset._ "Come in," Richard said. The door swung open, and Romulus was revealed. He looked very solemn. He sat down to the left of Richard. They rested in silence for a moment.

"Rom, you should be easier on Rem," Richard said softly, breaking the silence.

Romulus showed his first sign of feeling about the conflict. He pouted, "But I don't like anyone disapproving of my relationship with Elle."

Richard sighed, "You do realize your brother is going through some hard stuff right now, Rom."

"Yeah, I know, the whole broken heart routine, but he could get over it, you know."

"Rem doesn't recover as easily as you do, Rom," Richard said. "He has a lot more empathy than you do. And on top of that, he can't show his emotions as well as you can. You need to be more understanding."

Romulus thought about that for a moment. Then he put a hand though his hair. He muttered, "I know that, Richard, I know. But I…"

"…Wasn't thinking." Richard finished. "I understand. Just try. And apologize to him tomorrow, after I have a word with him too. As stubborn as he is."

"Okay," Romulus said, quiet after being scolded. Then he thought of something and said, "Hey, are you all right though? With the whole Ayu amnesia issue and all, and Kira in her current state…"

"It isn't amnesia; it's something far more troublesome than that. But am I really that obvious Rom?" Richard said.

Romulus shrugged, "Answer the question."

"No, Rom, I'm not. And the last thing I need is you two," Richard snapped, causing Romulus to wince, "Bickering like old ladies. And before you say anything, yes, old ladies."

"I don't think old ladies use swords," Romulus smiled. When Richard glared at him, his smile fell from his face. "Sorry, I just couldn't help it."

Richard sighed, "Yeah, I know. But, on the bright side, it's the best thing about you. But, it's also the worst thing too."

Romulus smiled and said, "Wanna talk about Ayu?"

"No, I'll just think about that time." He stared at the picture on his desk, the one taken what seemed so long ago.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Australian Summer: 12 Years Ago_

A six year old Richard stood a few feet in front of a camera. He stood between his two brothers; all dressed the same way, in blue suits with blue ties. He smiled softly for the camera as the light flashed. Remus seemed like he wanted to murder whoever forced him to dress that way, but still remained dressed properly. The second the picture was taken, Romulus took off his tie, quite a feat for a five year old boy, and tied it around his head. He then ran off, Remus and Richard quickly following. Behind them a maid shouted, "Romulus-sama! Remus-sama! Richard-sama! Please, come back! You'll get so dirty, and milady will get so mad at me!"

Romulus laughed jovially, as Remus and Richard followed, smiling. The trio climbed quickly into a tree near the wall of the compound. They reached the top branches, and were able to see over the high walls. Richard looked at the bright afternoon sky. Then he looked at the only road leading to the complex. A black limo was heading towards the main house through the complex. Four flags adorned the limo, each marked with a Japanese letter. "Kanji," Remus, the smart one, supplied.

The gates opened beneath them. The three brothers looked at each other, and jumped from the tree, landing nimbly on their feet. They then quickly hid behind the bushes next to the walkway that led from the garage where the limo had just parked. To their right, a group of people were amassing. All of them familiar to the boys. In the front center of the people was a man in a black suit. He was tall, tan, and had brown hair and eyes. His hair was neatly cut and he looked very proper.

Then a small group of people appeared from the garage. A woman stood at the front of the group, with grey hair and black eyes. She wore a grey robe, a black one underneath, cinched with a white tie. "A kimono," Remus again supplied. Behind them were a mass of people in drab kimono or boring suits.

Then Richard noticed a girl standing behind the grey-haired woman. She looked to be about their age. She had red hair and green eyes that reached her shoulders. She was dressed in a kimono. This one was orange and covered with pretty red flowers.

Richard noticed something about her though, something so sad and unfortunate, that seemed so obvious to him, but yet, no one but himself seemed to notice.

She looked beaten down, sad, as if something or someone, was eating away at her soul.

But before he could think about it more, he looked up to see the man in the suit and the woman in the kimono bow. Then, they shook hands. "Welcome to the Leer Compound, Lady Kine. Is English okay for you? I can switch to Japanese if you wish." The man said to the woman.

"Thank You, Lord Alexander," Lady Kine said. "English is fine for us Hondas."

"Very well," Lord Alexander said. "Can the little one speak English as well?"

"Yes," Kine said. "Ayumi! Say hello to Lord Alexander."

"Pleased to meet you, milord." "Ayumi" bowed.

Lord Alexander nodded. Then he said, "Please, come with me Lady Kine, we have things to discuss."

Kine said, "Very well." and they went off.

All of the assistants and bodyguards followed the heads slowly, making sure to stay behind the two heads. Only one person stayed behind. The girl.

As soon as she was sure she was now unnoticed, unneeded, and unseen, she turned towards the bushes. She said, "You can come out now."

The brothers gasped in synch, and got up out of the bushes. Ayumi smiled softly, and said, "Oh, I did not know there were three of you."

Romulus' brow furrowed. "How did you know we were there?"

Ayumi said, "I'm not sure. I just could. I think that you, in the middle, is the one I can sense."

Richard smiled. "Me? Well, that's interesting. My name is Richard Leer. These are my brothers, Romulus and Remus. Who are you?"

"My name is Ayumi Honda, but please, call me Ayu." The girl smiled. But why did Richard's heart clench when he saw her smile?

_End of Flashback_

* * *

Richard awoke to a knock on his door. He did not know when he had fallen asleep, only that a blanket now covered him, and that Romulus was gone. He put the picture on his desk away. He opened the door, and there stood Ayu. Speak of the devil, Richard thought.

"Ayu," he said, surprised. "What a pleasant surprise! Please, come in." He opened the door so she could get in. He stepped inside, and shut the door behind him. "Need anything to drink? Eat?"

"No thanks," Ayu said. "May I please sit down?"

"Sure," Richard said. He knew he probably looked pretty scruffy. When he saw Ayu eye the blanket on the couch across from where she was sitting, next to him, he explained, "I was taking a little nap. I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, and well, I was distracted. I'm afraid I fell asleep when Rom was here; I'll have to apologize to him later…"

"I had something to talk to you about," Ayu said, a little peeved.

"Oh, right, I'm sorry," Richard apologized.

"You said you couldn't explain it as well as your brothers, but you seemed to do fine to me, so, I have a question for you; why did you lie?"

Richard lied, "I didn't lie."

"Yes, you did, and lying to cover up a lie is idiotic, so tell me the truth."

"How did you know?" Richard smiled falsely, leading her away from the subject.

"I don't know; I simply seem to have a sixth sense for you. Isn't that odd?" Ayu smiled.

"Yeah, it is." Richard lied awkwardly. His mind began to wander…

* * *

_Flashback_

_Later that Night_

_12 Years Ago_

Richard was walking towards his favorite tree later that night. He had to think about everything that had happened that day. That odd girl, Ayu, for one thing.

Absorbed in his thoughts, Richard did not notice a leg sticking out from beneath his tree.

He tripped.

He fell flat on his face, a clumsy feat for an agent in training. He looked up, to find that it was Ayu's leg he had tripped over. She was sitting beneath his tree in a single less fancy version of her old robe, only this one was green. He was sure Remus would know what it was called, but he simply had no idea.

"I'm sorry!" Ayu said, "Are you okay?"

Not wanting to worry her, he sat up, and said, "No, I'm fine. This is a coincidence; you're sitting underneath my favorite tree."

Ayu said, "I'm sorry. Should I move?"

"No," Richard smiled, "It's a public tree."

"Oh," Ayu blushed. Richard smiled.

They sat in silence for a moment. Then, Richard said, "You seem so shy. I thought red heads were supposed to have a huge temper."

"That's a stereotype," Ayu said. "Although I do have a temper problem."

"Then why does it never appear?" Richard said.

"Because," Ayu said, "My Lady Grandmother doesn't like me to show my true personality. She thinks it unladylike, and that is the only thing that matters to her. So I act meek and shy so she will not punish me." And in quieter voice, she whispered to herself, "Although she still does sometimes."

"What does she do to you?" Richard asked, Ayu having peaked his interest. "As punishment I mean?"

"I'd rather not talk about it," Ayu said. "But rest assured; it is not pleasant."

At that she touched her side. Knowing how to drop a subject, Richard asked, "Why does Lady Kine take care of you? Where are your parents?"

"My mother died when I was a baby, in an attack by Syphos on our base. She sacrificed her life, so that we could all live. My mother, Sakuno Honda, was a hero. If I'm lucky, besides the whole dying part, I'll grow up to be half as good as she was. Wanna see a picture of her?" She took a photo frame out of her sash, and handed it to him. In the picture was a woman who looked exactly like Ayu, tall, red haired, green-eyed, with a beautiful smile, holding a baby, who Richard assumed to be Ayu, a man and his arm around her shoulders. He was very handsome.

"Who's that?" Richard asked Ayu.

"That's my father. He died in a battle against Syphos when I was four. He's the one who died, making me live with my Lady Grandmother. He was hero too, don't get me wrong. But I can still remember him well enough where I can miss him. If I try to talk about him, I'll start crying. And I don't want to do that right now; not to mention that 'isn't ladylike' either."

"There is nothing bad about crying Ayu." Richard said. "But if you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to."

Forgetting herself, Ayu did something very rash.

She hugged Richard.

Then something astounding happened.

Absolutely nothing…

_End of Flashback_

* * *

"But, anyways, Ayu," Richard said. "This question may seem odd to you, but I was wondering, can you remember anything from when you were about five years old?"

"No," Ayu said. "The first thing I can remember from after my father's funeral is waking up in Kira's house. I can't remember anything from the time I was four until I was almost six. Why?"

"Oh, no reason." Then Richard smiled a sad, knowing smile, and Ayu got the feeling he knew something she didn't.

And Ayu was always a very curious person.

_I have to find out what he knows and why he looks so sad…_

**_END OF CHAPTER 15_**

* * *

Author's Note: I think Richard is becoming my new favorite character, followed by Remus…is that a bad thing?

Anyway, Please Review! Thanks for reading~!


	16. Relationships are Sometimes Complicated

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket.

English

Japanese

_Flashback/Dream Sequence_

* * *

Chapter 16

Relationships are Sometimes Complicated

* * *

**Part A**

**Explanations Sometimes Fix Things (But Sometimes They Don't)**

Remus needed to talk to a certain person. He stood thoughtfully in front of their door; hand raised a centimeter from the door. He then knocked on the door his customary three times, each evenly spaced.

"Coming!" a voice said, and the door opened. It was Momiji. His eyes widened as he went to shut the door. But Remus stopped it before it could slam shut.

"May I come in?" Remus asked.

"No," Momiji said, and turned walking into his living room. He left the door open, though, knowing that Remus would just come in anyway.

Remus stepped inside the room and saw that it was a mess. Apparently someone hadn't been cleaning lately. He shut the door behind him. "I want to speak to you about something."

"Oh really," Momiji said, "Because I don't want to speak to you about anything."

"So you can just listen," Remus said. "I honestly don't care if you talk back to me, although you may want to, but you must hear what I am about to say, or Kira may never return."

Momiji sat on his armchair, waiting for Remus to say something. Remus sat on Momiji's couch tightly, back straight not touching the back of it. He cleared his throat and said, "Normally, I wouldn't even tell you really about myself, but I think you need to know about me and Kira, for obvious reasons. I suppose I should start from the beginning."

He took a deep breath and began, "Kira and me first met when I was about five years old and Kira was three. From the beginning, I knew she was different…unique, even. She always knew where I was, as I always knew with her, like Ayu knew with Richard, and Rom knew with Elle. I could even sense her mood and upon rare occasion her thoughts. I thought it was peculiar, and I automatically distanced myself, especially once I found out the reason why I had this 'sixth sense', if you will, putting a large crevasse between us.

"We share the same cursed animal you see; I am also a dragon. I am sure that somewhere there is another cursed rabbit and you would have the same predicament that we do. Supposedly, Kira and I were to be very compatible, nearly soul mates. Not to mention, we would be able to solidify the first alliance between two agencies in nearly a century. So we were betrothed at a very young age, along with Ayu and Richard's and Elle and Rom's engagements, but all of us knew what it meant at the time except that idiot couple. Luckily, the engagements were broken off after a few brief months.

"After that, I saw Kira briefly, a few different times. I would see her at summits between the four major agency powers, which are the Japanese Agency, the Australian Agency, the American Agency, and the Triad (European Agency). The summits were to promote Agency relations, and to say that we were all allies, which was not always true, and often, at best, relations are shaky even to this day. Because we were similarly ranked, Kira and I often saw each other; but we only engaged in polite pleasantries, and then we went back to our friends.

"Then, at the end of eighth grade, I heard that Kira was coming to Loup Academy. To be honest, I didn't care at the time. I felt that it would only be troublesome; I would have to be polite to her, something that had always been hard for me, I am sorry to say. And I hadn't ever had a real friend. Rom and I had never gotten along, and we were family, and by extension, Elle and her best friend, Lily, were not always so fond of me. Richard and I got along, but we were brothers also, so I didn't count it, and Jenny, although she liked me; for some odd reason, we had never gotten close. I was unable to make any more friends; my special ability, like Tohru's foresight and Kira's postsight, is to be able to see into the hearts of people; it's like a strong empathy.

"Then I met Kira again, and for some indiscernible reason, she was kind to me. After I learned that she was the writer of The Violinist, my favorite series, we really hit it off, talking about story ideas, characters and plotlines. Soon, our topics of conversation evolved into our own 'plotlines' and the 'characters' in our lives. Richard noticed that I was happier. I simply smiled and said, 'Is that so odd?' Richard didn't say anything, but I knew he thought so. By that time, Rom and Elle had gotten together

"After a while of our easy friendship, she asked me, 'Hey, since everyone else seems to be pairing up, how about we do too.'

"I said, 'Okay, wanna be boyfriend and girlfriend?' and she nodded, and we were together. It seemed natural to us. Things remained the same as when we were friends only we went out on dates and we kissed from time to time. But it was obvious to both of us that we were only dating until someone better came along; we were almost too similar, too compatible and our differences were too different. But we were happy at the time anyway. Soft and unwavering, we were each other's first love.

"Then, one day, Kira left for Japan. We broke up. We both knew we weren't the type for a long distance relationship.

"But Kira still wrote me. I have a photographic memory; I'm a genius too, so I can remember her exact words. She said, 'I love Momiji. I think I'll tell him, someday.' She cared for you very much. I do not think she kissed me on purpose. My lips were simply the most familiar to her; my energy the same as hers due to my cursed animal. I felt you should know that."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Momiji asked.

"Because, I feel as if I should help your and Kira's relationship. She still is my best friend. Plus, she told me to look out for you if anything happened to you. Also, I feel as if I played a role in your heartbreak," Remus explained. He then looked down at his knees and said, "I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's no problem," Momiji said, smiling at Remus. "I have no ill feelings towards you. I have a question to ask you though."

"What is it?" Remus asked, leaning back into the sofa.

"Why did it seem as if Richard and Ayu weren't close at all, they did meet when they were little like you and Kira, right?"

Remus' brow furrowed, "So you picked up on that, huh?" Momiji noticed. Remus said, "Well, one could say that she simply does not remember, but I suppose that that isn't a good way to describe it. It's more like a block, or perhaps it's like her memory is covered by a sheet."

"Doesn't that mean that a little wind can blow it away?" Momiji asked.

Remus smiled, "I'm not really sure, we'll just have to wait and see."

"How did her memory get that way anyway?" Momiji asked.

Remus frowned and said, "That is not my story to tell. By the way, do not mention to Ayu or Richard that I told you about Ayu's memory."

"Right," Momiji agreed.

"Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow," Remus said. Then he left, shutting the door behind him quietly. Momiji leaned back in his chair, thinking about all he had just heard.

* * *

**Part B**

**Dreams of Nobody**

**(Ayu POV-Switch Language Codes)**

_Light shone through the open window. It was hot...summer maybe? I looked at my hands as I rested in bed. They were small...unusually so. "Have I shrunk?" I thought to myself. _

_Then, a person came shooting through the window. The person stood. It was a small boy, about five years old. He had brown hair and grey eyes. I smiled at him weakly, tired beyond belief. He smiled back at me and said, "Ayu, are you feeling better?"_

_"Yes, Richard," I said, "I am."_

I sat up straight in bed. I touched a hand to my gaping mouth and said, "What the hell?"

**END OF CHAPTER 16**

* * *

Author's Note: And suddenly Remus is my favorite. Sorry for a possibly OOC Momiji and a dialogue heavy chapter. If you read _Fruits Basket Fairy Tales_, I'm not too sure when I'll be updating. This story has suddenly taken my the way, with the last chapter I updated of this story, I reached the fiftieth chapter I have both archived on this site and written! I'm so happy I was able to reach this point. Thanks to all readers for supporting me! (bows) I'm going to go celebrate! (throws confetti, wheels out giant cake).

All Characters Ever Written: THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading. Please review, you'll get a virtual piece of cake!


	17. Through The Door Into a New Place

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya.

English

Japanese

_Thoughts/Chanting/Writing/Song Lyrics/Flashbacks_

**_Scene Division_**

* * *

Chapter 17

Through The Door, Into a New Place

**PART A**

**The Queen of Spades Finds the King of Diamonds**

**(Three Days Later)**

The last piece of the portal was finally being put on The Door. A man wearing a lab coat said, "Is this good, sir?" 

Richard nodded and said, "Yes, Dr. Reed," Then he said to all of the scientists, "You all can return to your rooms or you can watch it be activated."

None of the scientists moved to leave the room.

Richard stepped before the console, and said, "Before we go, do we have any volunteers to go on its maiden voyage and retrieve Kira. You scientists can't go. If something goes wrong, I'll need all the help I can get."

Almost everyone (minus the scientists) raised his or her hands. Then Shinji said, "Ayu, you can't go."

Ayu pouted and said, "Why not? I'm a good agent, and I'm Kira's best friend~!"

"I agree with you Shinji." Mika said, uttering her first piece of feedback since they got to the school. "Ayu, you have a responsibility to your post as Head of Honda Family. No matter how much you may want to go you can't."

"But, Kira-!"

"She'll understand," Mika said.

"I'm going to change some serious rules soon…"

"You go do that," Mika said.

"It looks like we'll need a tie-breaker. Who didn't raise their hands? Remus? Rom? Who do you think should go?" Richard asked.

Remus said, "I think Momiji should go."

Richard nodded, thinking that he probably knew the reasoning. He turned and said, "And you, Rom?"

"I agree with Rem," Romulus said.

"All right then. So if no one has any major problems with Momiji, then let's do this." Richard said. He then typed in Momiji Sohma, and information flashed across the screen. "I need a piece of your DNA, Momiji," Richard said.

Momiji nodded and pulled out a piece of his hair. He winced and said, "Will this do?"

"It's perfect," Richard said, distracted. He put it in a compartment on the machine and a green light flashed within it. He scanned the information on the screen seeing new information pop up. He said, "Okay, Momiji, you're all set. Now I need a piece of Kira's DNA."

Everyone looked at Ayu and she said, "What?! It's not like I'm known for carrying around Kira's toenails or anything!"

Richard raised an eyebrow at the minor rant.

Then a voice came from the side of the room. "I have something."

Haya walked to the front of the room. She removed a vial from around her neck. It was filled with a red liquid. Everyone looked from the vial to Haya and back again. Haya, noticing what they must be thinking said, "I'm Kira-nee's apprentice. So, she needs to be able to track me down quickly. Her favorite way to do it is to use her own blood."

She took off the necklace and placed the vile in Richard's hands. "Kira-nee is bound to get mad at me when she finds out. If you can leave a little bit of it, please do so. I don't feel like making her mad at me the second she returns." She bit her lip anxiously.

"I'll only use about one-fourth of it, okay?" Richard said, and Haya nodded. Richard pat Haya on the head, and turned back to the console. He typed in Kira's full name, and watched information appear on the screen. He then opened another compartment and placed a quarter of the vial into it. He closed it and a red light flashed from the container. Richard again scanned the information on the screen and he said, "Kira's good too." He pressed a big green button and The Door opened. Inside of it was a shimmering blue material that looked like silk fluttering in the breeze. Richard said, "So, Momiji, all you have to do is step through. It isn't solid, and it doesn't hurt."

"Probably," Remus muttered lightly under his breath, but it was loud enough for Richard to hear. Richard looked back and glared at Remus.

"Anyway," Richard said, "I suggest you go into your spirit form."

The Sohmas in attendance looked at them funnily. Ayu said, "We never go to teaching them that. It is a rather advanced technique."

Remus said, "It makes sense Richard. It isn't as if they are very advanced in the way of Agent skills. And they probably haven't even practiced since they reached this school."

Kyo glared at Remus, "You know for some reason I don't like you."

Remus smirked. "Right back at ya. I really dislike people like you."

Kyo scowled, "You-!"

"That's enough," Richard said, with a menacing aura surrounding him. Remus and Kyo glared at him, but fell silent. Yuki thought, Wow. He's scarier than I thought.

"Anyway, Momiji," Richard said smiling. "Summon your guardians. You know, one of the fairies."

"Right," Momiji said. He closed his eyes, and five balls of light appeared above his shoulders. Four of them landed lightly on his shoulders. Each of them had feathered wings, wearing boots with either shorts or short skirts. The one above his head though fell with a thump on his head on top of Momiji's head.

"Ow…" the fairy said. He looked like a small child. He rubbed his head. He worked his wings, and flying as hard as he could, moved to hover in front of Momiji's face. He huffed and puffed, "Momiji…W-What can we-whoa!"

He fell but Momiji grabbed him in his hands. "Balloon, everyone, can you help me out with something?"

"Sure! No prob!" Balloon said, winking.

"Why is he answering for us?" Sky whispered to Breeze on his shoulder.

Breeze shrugged, "I dunno."

"Okay, so Momiji's guardians," Richard said, "Tell Momiji how to achieve spirit form with you all."

Air nodded, and spoke into Momiji's mind, Repeat after me the following…

Momiji nodded and began:

"_Light like air swishes_

_From place to place,_

_Easily dispelled,_

_By shadow._

_Let me try,_

_To fight against the shadows._

_Let me attack like a tornado,_

_And destroy anything that tries_

_To come and stop me,_

_While staying_

_Calm like a summer's Breeze,_

_Floating into the Sky,_

_Like a Helium-filled Balloon._

_Give me strength,_

_My Guardians,_

_Assist me in my trial."_

There was a bright flash of light, and Momiji appeared. His fairies were gone. He wore a light blue button down shirt and dark blue shorts that reached right above his knees. He held a bow, and a quiver of arrows sat in between his shoulder blades. The most peculiar thing about his outfit was what was attached to his shoulders. He wore two pairs of silver wings, made to look silvery. He wondered if he could fly in his wings, and he rose a few inches off of the ground. He said, "Cool!"

Richard stared at him for a few moments and said, "I'll have to take a look at those eventually." He shook his head, shaking off his awe, and said, "If you're ready, you can go."

Momiji went up the stairs to The Door. But before he went through, he turned and smiled at everyone and said, "I promise that the next time you see me I'll have Kira with me." Then he turned and walked through the passage cloaked in blue. The Door shut behind him.

"Now all there is to do is pray," Richard said. Everyone filed off to their rooms to pray, read, write, spar, do homework, clean, or do anything to distract themselves from the anxiety there was building inside themselves. He looked over at where everyone once was, and saw Ayu, staring at The Door, silently, with a lost look in her eyes.

Richard suddenly felt a flood of emotions that were not his own:

Sadness

Jealousy

Anger

And Most of All…

Hope.

Richard, unthinkingly, walked towards Ayu who was still staring unblinkingly at the door, ignoring everything around her.

Ayu suddenly felt a pair of warm arms around her. Her first reaction was to lean back. She rested gently against a chest and sighed. They stayed that way for what seemed like eternity and a few seconds all at the same time.

Then Ayu realized something. She was being hugged.

She froze in his arms, but did not break away. She turned, and he made no movement to release her. She looked up and at his face.

"Richard," she whispered unwaveringly. "Just what is going on?"

"I'll show you in a second," Richard said softly. "Just…relax. Give me a moment."

And so they remained...

* * *

**Part B**

**Free Fall**

**(Meanwhile…)**

Momiji was freefalling, through a pit full of lights.

He flapped his wings as hard as he could but he still could not slow his fall; as a matter of fact, he only seemed to be picking up speed. Not wanting to waste energy, he stopped fighting against the current, and went with it.

He soared down past the lights of every color imaginable and they began to haze together at the end of the tunnel was a dark blue light. The light got bigger and bigger and Momiji got closer and closer to it. He realized that he was getting closer to the light right before he entered it, becoming immersed in blue light…

* * *

**Part C**

**A Dark Side Holding a Lit Candle**

When Momiji woke up, his back hurt a lot.

He stared up into a black ceiling, spread eagle on the floor.

Then, a voice came from the corner, "Oi! Dude who just fell from the ceiling! I'm talkin' to ya!"

Momiji sat up and rubbed his head. He said, "Who is it? Kira?"

"No, idiot!" the voice said. "Guess again!"

"Um, Suki."

"Moron! It's Dark!"

"Oh…who?"

"Kira's Fucking Dark Side!"

"Oh. Okay then."

"Don't just sit there like the imbecile ya are! Untie me!" Momiji heard some movement in the corner.

"Um, I can't even see you."

"Oh, whatever. Come here." Momiji heard an audible sigh.

Momiji walked carefully over to the voice. When he hit Dark's shoes, he stopped.

"Was there any need to kick me?" Dark growled.

"It was an accident!"

"Can't you see?!"

"No! It's too dark."

"Oh, yeah, you can't see at night. My bad." There was a brief pause, until Dark said. "Go into by pocket."

"What?!"

"Poor ickle Momiji, so innocent," Dark cackled. Then she explained in her "I know everything voice", "It's in my sweatshirt pocket. You don't even have to touch me." Dark sighed, "Of all of the guys to have to touch me, it has to be the one who doesn't want to. Seriously…"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Just do it."

Momiji reached into her pocket and grabbed an object. He pulled it out and felt it. It was a lighter.

"I always carry it around with me. Kira and the five can't see with out it."

"So Dark carries a lighter," Momiji said.

"Ironic, ne," Dark smiled.

Momiji lit the lighter. Dark's hair was a mess and her frown was back in place. She had never really let anyone see her smile. She was not about to start now.

"Untie me."

Momiji nodded. He undid the knots quickly and Dark stretched out her limbs before she got up. "Phew! I didn't know my limbs were so stiff!"

"How long have you been tied up for?" Momiji asked.

"A few weeks," Dark answered. "Suki caught me looking for the guardians, and she didn't like it too much."

"That stinks," Momiji said, wincing lightly.

"Yeah, well, whatever. What's done's done," Dark shrugged. She stood, and said, "Well, then, let's go. We have no time to loose." She then knelt down in front of her prison door, and began to pick the lock. Within seconds, the lock clicked and she pushed the door open lightly. "Let's go then. She then walked out the door and into the hallway.

The hallway was dark, only lit by some floating candles, each on a pewter holder. She grabbed one and put her forefinger through the loop that it was meant to go through. She held it steadily, impressing Momiji. He followed her, as they walked as quietly as they could, down the hallway.

At the end of the hallway, there was a spiral staircase. They went up several fights of stairs and suddenly a weight Momiji did not know was on his shoulders dissapated. Dark looked back at Momiji, "That was Suki's presence keeping me prisoner. This seems to be a pocket that she has no control over. Apparently, Kira still reigns here. Man, it feels good to be free again." She put back down the candle and stetched out her arms and legs. She picked up the candle and said, "Suki can't do anything to us here. Hell, I don't even know if she can _come _here." With that, she grabbed his shoulder and turned on her heel.

They reappeared in a new room. A large table was in front of them and Dark put down the candle. It was a room where as far as the eye could see there were books upon books in bookshelves, lining the walls. "Kira's memory library. Some of these are books she's read or written, whereas others are her memories. This is the only other place I know of where Dark has no control. There could be others. But as long as she doesn't detect my escape we ought to be okay," Dark explained, and then walked down a row of books. Momiji followed.

At the end of the row was a section filled with cobwebby books. Dark explained, "These books have sat in Kira's library, untouched by others, for a long time. These are Kira's greatest secrets. You already know quite a few of them, but these are the ones she rarely talks about, if she ever has…"

"Well, then, I guess I'll start reading…" Momiji grabbed a blood red book and opened it.

"No! Wait!"

_The floor was covered in people, dead or unconscious. An eleven year old girl stood in the center of the room. She was covered in blood. Her hair was covered in red, and was stuck together. She held a shotgun in one hand as her weapon. Her sword was across the room. She was surrounded by men in black. She stared at her enemies blankly, he blue eyes unseeing. She then smiled creepily and rushed at them unthinkingly…_

The book was ripped out of Momiji's hands. He was laying on the ground. Dark hovered over him, glaring at him.

"YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER IDIOTIC MORON!!!" she shouted. "YOU SHOULD NEVER TOUCH ANYTHING IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS!!" Momiji's vision blurred. "Oi, imbecile! Momiji? Are you okay? Hey! Snap out of it! You are absolutely no help at all!"

Momiji's sight went dark. "Kira," he whispered before he fell unconscious.

_**

* * *

**_

_**END OF CHAPTER 17**_

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter of _Tales of an Onigiri Two! _From here on out things are really going to pick up! Dark is so mean to Momiji... But anyway, thanks for reading! Please review!


	18. A Look Into the Past

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fruits Basket. _Or "Imaginary" by Evanescence (that's the song in the story that Dark sings) or random famous lines from _The Wizard of Oz_.

Japanese

English

**Scene Change**

_Writing/Thoughts/Song Lyrics/Chanting_

* * *

Chapter 18

A Look Into the Past

**Part A**

**Party of One**

When Momiji woke up, he heard very light singing.

_I linger in the doorway_

_Of alarm clocks screaming,_

_Monsters calling my name._

_Let me stay, _

_Where the wind will whisper to me,_

_And the raindrops as they're falling,_

_Tell a story…_

He opened his eyes and he saw that Dark was singing. Dark, noticing his consciousness fell silent and glared at him. "You have a beautiful singing voice," Momiji said, astonished.

Dark scowled at him. "Why the surprised tone? May be it's because you thought nothing was 'beautiful' about me! Hn. You're a jerk."

Momiji smiled at her. "I didn't mean that."

"Whatever," Dark said. She then decided to change the subject. "That was Kira's favorite song a few years ago."

"What's it mean? It's in English, and I may be okay at it, but I'm nowhere as good as you or Kira."

Dark translated the section she had sung. "Pretty, huh?"

"It is pretty, but it's a little dark," Momiji said.

Dark smirked, "I suppose that's why Kira and I like it then." Momiji smiled, seeing a similarity between Dark and Kira. Dark noticed, and quickly defended herself. "But it's one of Kira's favorite songs. I don't really care for it."

Momiji smiled more widely. "Then why do you know all of the words?"

Dark said, "Kira listens to it all the time, I hear and can see anything that goes on outside, even with Suki out and about. Wait, why am I explaining myself to you?! You're an idiot who decides '_Hey, I'll just randomly pick up a book, even if it's seriously dangerous and __**I'm not prepared for what I'm about to see!'**_Really! You are such a moron!"

"I'm sorry, I was just curious."

Dark pinched the bridge of her nose. "Such things can get you killed. Boy, you ain't in Kansas anymore, and you had better accept it. Next to Kira, as much as she may dislike it, I am next in power in this realm. I should have gotten power, not Suki."

"I think I may be hearing jealousy…" Momiji said.

"No, not jealousy. Regret."

Silence rang through the room. Dark and Momiji stared at each other.

"Ahem. Well, anyway, let's get back to saving Kira," Dark said awkwardly.

Momiji nodded quickly, wanting to get back on target. "Yeah, that'd be great."

Dark cleared her throat. "First off, I would like to tell you that it was idiotic to simply pick up an object in Kira's _mind._"

"I already said sorry."

"But you don't understand. If you mess anything up in here, it could have massive affects on her psyche. She could even go insane if we do the wrong things."

"Okay, I won't just pick up things."

"Good. Now, you don't know the entire story about what you saw. So…the beginning is in this book." Dark grabbed a dark purple book off the shelf. "Here."

Momiji looked at the book for a moment. He opened it carefully. Suddenly, he was not in the library anymore.

_Momiji stood in the dining room of Ayu's old house. Everyone was around the table smiling and laughing. Kira sat in front of a cake that read "Happy Birthday Kira!" nine candles surrounding the message and blue flowers creating a border on the cake. No one seemed to notice Momiji. "Hello," he called. No one seemed to sense him. "I guess no one can see me then," Momiji said._

_He looked at Kira and saw that she seemed very young, younger than he had ever seen her. He had seen pictures of a younger Kira, but seeing her in her own memories seemed to make him realize something: She had never looked as free as she did at this very moment. _

_Kira watched the cake excitedly as the candles were lit. Then, her friends and family began to sing:_

"_Happy Birthday to you,_

_Happy Birthday to you!_

_Happy Birthday dear Kira!_

_Happy Birthday to you!"_

_Kira blew out half the candles with one puff and the other half with the second. Momiji watched as she smiled and exclaimed, "I got two wishes!"_

_Ayu said, "No you don't!" As the two began to bicker about the trivial matter, Mika smiled softly to herself, cutting up the cake into equal pieces for the guests, Tatsuya hovering around her, trying to get a piece, as a other women smiled near them, a man's arm slung across her shoulders. She had reddish-brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, a few stray strands surrounding her face. She had green eyes and looked a lot like Mika and Ayu. As Momiji drooled silently and helplessly over the cake, he realized that she was Mika's sister, Natsume. He had heard about her in passing conversation; that she was Shino and Hiromo's mother who had died in childbirth. He saw her stomach extended in pregnancy and realized that her death was not too far off. He looked more closely at the man next to her. It was obviously Hiromo's father. The little boy carried some of his characteristics. He felt a sudden clenching of his stomach. He knew the two in front of him would die in a few weeks, but he could do nothing about it. _

_However, he knew he could do nothing for the young couple in front of him, the soon to be born orphans. He could mourn for them later. _

_He had to think only of Kira._

_Momiji scanned the room for anything special. Besides the children in the room that he did not know, he saw nothing odd. Everyone was there whom Kira liked. He even saw a bemused Scottie resting at the table._

_He sighed but knew he was missing something important. _

_Then he realized it. Kira's mom was not there. He looked at Tohru quickly, but she did not look upset. Ayu and Kira had stopped fighting, and were laughing happily. He had known Kira had issues with her mother, but he did not think they were bad enough for Kyoko to miss her daughter's own 9__th__ birthday party. _

_It was then that the doorbell rang. Tatsuya said, "I'll get it. You are running the video camera, right, Mika?"_

"_No."_

"_What?!"_

"_She is Tatsu, she is," Natsume laughed. _

_Tatsuya glared at Mika. "You're so mean!" he pouted. _

_Mika smiled, "Yes, yes, but if you don't shape up, you'll never be in a steady relationship!"_

"_It's not like you have a 'steady relationship'!" _

"_Yeah, but I'm different from you."_

"_How?!"_

"_I'm me."_

_Before Tatsuya could whine "Miiikaaaaa…," Natsume said, "The doorbell, Tatsu?"_

"_Ah. Right," Tatsuya said. He straightened himself, putting on his "I-am-the-super-cool-second-ranked-in-the-Agency-face" and walked to the door. He opened it to see a man dressed in a red, ninja-like costume. His armband had a number six marker on it, showing that he in the sixth squad. The man merely handed Tatsuya the letter and vanished. Tatsuya muttered, "So rude. No courtesy in kids these days," blatantly ignoring the facts that the man may have been older than him, and that he was only thirty._

_Tatsuya looked at the white envelope and saw typed __Agent 021__. He turned and closed the door. He said, "Kira, a letter for you!" _

_He walked over to Kira and gave her the letter. Over Kira's shoulder, Momiji read:_

_Dear Agent 021,_

_Squad 3 will be having a briefing on a mission at 1800 hours tonight. Please do not be late. _

_Thank you for your service._

_The Office of Agent 003_

_Ayu whispered, "What is it?" _

"_A mission," Kira said. Ayu nodded and went back to her cake. Kira stared at the letter for a moment then put it down. She starred up at the ceiling. She looked down and finished her cake. _

_Then the scenery blurred, and Momiji was suddenly in Kira's room. The clock read 5 PM, and Kira sat on her bed, reading. Presents were piled next to her bed. Then, there was a knock at the door. Kira called, "Come in!" _

_The door opened and there stood Ayu, holding a small jewelry box. "Kira, a present just came for you."_

_Kira looked up from her book. "Really? Who's it from?" Ayu shrugged. Kira said, "Could you give it to me?" _

_Ayu nodded and handed her the box. On top was an envelope. Kira opened it and found a birthday card with a cartoon dragon on it. It had the same message Kira had been seeing all day: everyone always seems to want to see the dragon-cursed girl get a card with a dragon on it. She had received seven of these cards today…_

_She had only scanned the card until she saw the signature at the bottom: __Kyoko.__ Kira shrieked and threw the box across the room. Ayu dutifully picked up the box and the letter and looked at the card. She sighed, "Kira…" Then she opened the box and found a necklace with a large dark blue stone set in silver. "So pretty…" she said. Ayu looked over at Kira and said, "Look at what your Mom gave you! It's your favorite color, isn't it?"_

"_Yeah," Kira said. _

"_Don't you want it?"_

"_It came from that woman."_

"_I've been meaning to talk to you about that actually Kira."_

"_What about it?" _

"_You really don't know?"_

"_No."_

_Ayu sighed. "I think that may be you should try to reconnect with your mother."_

_Kira turned sharply to look at Ayu. "Not this again."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_We've already had this conversation," Kira said. "I don't want anything to do with her."_

"_I know you don't," Ayu sighed. "But you need to think of what's best for you…and for Tohru."_

_Kira frowned, "What do you mean?"_

"_Tohru is sad. She wants to see her mom."_

"_I'm not stopping her from visiting our mother," Kira said. "She can go by herself."_

"_She wants to go with you, and, at any rate, she wants to live with her." _

"_WHAT?"_

"_Kira, you need to think about this very carefully…"_

"_If Tohru wants to go and live with that damn woman, then she should go ahead. I won't stop her."_

_Ayu's eyes narrowed. "You don't mean it."_

"_I really do. I want nothing to do with her." _

"_But Tohru-!" _

"_Drop it, Ayu."_

_Ayu glared at Kira and said, "You are such a baby Kira! You shouldn't be so willing to give up your sister who you love."_

"_I didn't-!"_

"_I'm not done. You are a fool, Kira," Ayu placed the box and the card on the table and stomped away. She was about to slam the door behind her when she said. "And Tohru would never dream of leaving you, just so ya know!" _

_And then Ayu slammed the door, and it echoed in the room, and in Kira's heart. _

_Momiji only saw Kira bend at her waist to cry on her knees before his vision swam and he was _back in the library, Dark leaning over him.

"It's late," she said. "So go to sleep."

Momiji's eyes closed as he fell asleep.

* * *

**Part B**

**Reveal (Ayu POV)**

Richard broke away from me. I said quietly, "Richard, why can you hug me?"

Richard said, "I'll show you." He pressed his hands upon my temples, looking into my eyes, and whispered, "Reveal."

Then my mind was flooded with memories that I didn't know I had.

_Flashback_

_Ayu-Age 2_

_I held my father's hand as we walked into a hospital. I said, "Daddy, where are we going?" _

_He said, "To see your new baby cousin." My brow furrowed. As if sensing my confusion, my dad said, "She's your Uncle Katsu's new kid."_

_I nodded. I had never seen my uncle's wife; she was not allowed in the main house, and I was rarely allowed outside for some reason. But I had often seen my polite-speaking, smiling Uncle Katsu with Toh-chan. He usually had candy from my step-grandma. _

_While I was distracted by thoughts of the best homemade candy in the world, Dad stopped in front of a door. He knocked on the door, and Uncle Katsu opened it. He looked very tired. We walked in._

_Inside was a tired-looking woman in a bed. She had nice long hair swept back in a messy ponytail. My first thought: She's pretty. My second: I wonder if my Mom looked like that right before she died after she had me. _

_I looked at her more closely, pushing the bad thoughts from my mind. Then I said, bowing, "My name is Ayu Honda. I'm two."_

_She smiled softly at me. "I'm your Aunt Kyoko." She nodded, then grasped my hand. _

_I pulled away gently. I then noticed the others in the room. There was my unmarried Auntie Natsu, grinning largely, pretty and skinny as always. We had very similar red hair, so I felt the most related to her, and my mother who matched me. I wanted to look like her when I grew up! _

_Auntie Mika was kidding around with Uncle Tatsu, laughing rambunctiously. Auntie Susu sat next to Uncle Tatsu, two bassinettes at her feet, one for Shin-chan, and one for Toji-chan. She smiled softly as her presence seemed to soothe the room. She was a healer and very good at what she did, shown by her aura meant anything. _

_Toh-chan walked up to me with a Toddler's grace. "Come see Kira-chan." She pulled my over to a small little plastic crib and we looked over at a then sleeping Kira. "This is my new little sister, Kira-chan." Toh-chan smiled, as if bragging about a new toy she had received. _

_I smiled softly, and cooed, "Hello Ki-chan." Then I realized an important fact about newborns. "You sure are ugly, aren't cha?"_

_What I hadn't noticed was that the entire room had heard my comment and began to bray with laughter. "Ayu!" my father scolded. "Say you're sorry!" _

"_Oh no, she doesn't have to!" Uncle Katsu said. "I kinda agree with her!" _

"_KATSUYA!" Auntie Kyoko cried beginning a rant, as new cries of laughter erupted._

_Miraculously, the twins did not wake up. But bleary blue eyes opened, and stared up at me silently. Kira had awoken, and I was shocked by her sleepy gaze. I dropped my tiny hand into the crib, and she grasped onto it tightly, no one in the room sensing the quiet moment we had. From that moment on, I knew our fates were entwined, and that there was nothing we could do to untangle them._

_**END OF CHAPTER 18**_

* * *

A/N: The end of Chapter 18. My apologies that I could not update this past month! I was very busy. Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review!


	19. A Walk Down Memory Lane

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fruits Basket._

English

Japanese

**French**

_Thoughts/Song Lyrics_

**Part Break**

Note: Because the majority of this chapter is filled with flashbacks, they will not be italicized, only the headings will be.

* * *

**Chapter 19**

**A Walk Down Memory Lane**

**PART A **

**MEMORIES OF MARRIAGE**

_**Ayu POV**_

_**10 Years Ago**_

My small body was curled up in the airplane seat. I had long ago taken off the restrictive seat belt and was currently staring around me. Next to me, a pile of toys and books laid, untouched. I looked out the window and saw the pure blue sky, with occasional white clouds in the world. I had very inclination to look down, however. I had always wanted to fly, but I was not blessed with a flying cursed animal, so unless I could make it happen myself, I would never be able to. However, Minami-san said she would get me into an engineering class at Accelerando, so may be I can design some wings someday…

I looked to the side and saw a younger girl curled up in a chair next to me, fast asleep, she looked to be about three. She looked very peaceful. Her blonde hair was pulled into ponytails tied with ribbons. She was in an odd dress. It was pale blue and reminded me of those girls I had seen pictures of in Harajuku. The dress looked like it had walked right out of the Victorian Era.

It was then that I remembered what Milady Grandmother had wanted a certain three year old to wear. She had called Auntie Mika and sent her a package, demanding that the girl wears what was inside. I had only seen Kira a few times since her father's funeral, but I knew that Auntie Mika, who I saw more often, listened to Milady Grandmother on the small things, and ignored the things she disliked. Auntie was able to do that, since she was so high up in the Agency. I dreamed of becoming that high up so I would not have to listen to Milady anymore. I subconsciously touched my right shoulder blade.

I looked more attentively upon her face. I see her brow begin to furrow and her mouth begin to turn south. She is perfectly still, but I can tell she is having a nightmare. I nearly reach out to wake her up, when her mouth begins to move. "Mom…" she whispers. " Don't go." A single tear begins to peak out in between her eyelids.

I close my hand, my nails digging into my palm. I know I cannot help her, not with this. She probably does not remember me. I cannot even remember my mother, so I cannot help her with her maternal issues.

Minutes pass, and her eyelids begin to twitch. She was waking up. I twitched away from her, fell back into my seat, and pretended to be asleep. Because it is not too hard to fool a bleary three year old that one is asleep, so I merely slowed my breathing and closed one eye, leaving the other barely open. Kira's eyes fluttered open and she looked over at me. She shook her head trying to shake off her sleepiness.

She then began to stare at me. Then she said, "I know you're awake."

My eyes shot open. "Smart kid," I grinned. "How'd you guess?"

"I noticed that your eye was open, and I said a spell my Auntie Mika taught me," Kira explained.

I whistled, "Wow. Pretty good for a three year old."

Kira sighed, "Yes, yes." She seemed to think for a moment. "Wait…how do you know my age?"

"Points for observation," Ayu noted. "My name is Ayumi Honda. I'm your cousin."

"Oh my," Kira said. "I can't believe I didn't recognize you!"

Ayu smiled, "It's been a while."

"But man…to not recognize you at all…" Kira lightly hit herself on the head, "I feel like such a dunce!"

"Ah, it's no problem."

"Hm…but you need a nick name…" Kira said. "I have one for all of my friends, so…oh, I know! You're cursed with the lion, right?"

"Yes…"

"Cub-chan will be your new nickname!" Kira grinned largely.

I stared at her blankly. I had not been as happy as she was since I moved in with Milady. I smiled softly for the first time in nearly two years. "Thank you, Kira."

She laughed, and we began to talk like old friends, about nothing important. I was the happiest I had been in over a year_. _

_**Two Days Later**_

Kneeling for hours straight at a meeting, spoken only in German of all things, is not fun. Because of the cultural differences of the Australian Agency, the Triad, and the Honda Agency, one out of every three meetings were conducted in a traditional Japanese format. This meeting had been the first I had attended outside of the Agency, where every other meeting was in the Japanese format.

If I screwed up, I would be dead. The very punishment I could receive made me shutter.

I was slightly zoned out. Kira sat to my side, slightly fidgeting. I mouthed to her, "Stop!" and then inclined my head towards Milady Grandmother. She nodded and became motionless. The triplet boys that I had met earlier kneeled on either side of their head, Remus on one side, and Richard and Romulus on the other, Richard closer to the head. An unfamiliar girl sat next to the Triad's head.

Milady cleared her throat. "Well, I suppose it is time to tell the children the news."

I began to pay attention then. I straightened. The Leer Head said, "Because you share a cursed animal with another person here, we have decided that this would be a good opportunity to create an alliance."

The Triad head cut in, "So we have decided to create arranged marriages for the six of you. You will not have to get married for quite some time…"

I began to ignore the talking of those around me. I began to think how stupid the idea of arranged marriages were, but also how I could do nothing to prevent my own.

When I heard Milady speak, I began to pay attention again. "Ayu will marry Richard, Kira will marry Remus, and Elle will marry Richard. Of course, the marriages will not occur until both of the people are of age."

There was silence in the room. The unfamiliar girl's (now identified as Elle) face was bright red. Remus seemed to be unaffected. Romulus was beet red as well. Richard seemed to be shell-shocked. Kira was pale and motionless.

I looked around the room, trying to gage if the heads were serious. They were. I held back a sigh. No, it did not look like they were doing this for a very elaborate not-so funny joke. I tried to avoid Richard's eyes. To be married to a guy I hardly knew? Not a fun idea.

Kine said, "As we previously agreed, Lord Leer, Lady Donner, can we allow the children to leave to think about what they have just heard?"

The two other heads nodded. "You are dismissed," they said to their young charges in their varied languages. The six of us got up, bowed to each head in kind, and left the room.

Elle and Romulus walked in opposite directions. Remus and Kira looked at each other, shrugged, and walked together. Richard smiled at me and said, "Some news, eh, Ayu?"

"Yeah," I said. "It came as quite a shock."

We stood in silence awkwardly for a few moments. Richard said, "I don't know if you even want to see me right now, but could you and I get to know each other? Just in case we do end up getting married?"

I smiled softly at him, "Alright." Then, we walked off together.

_End of Flashbacks_

I sat up in bed suddenly from my dream. Or is it my memory? Richard was in a chair next to my bed. "You're awake," he smiled.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked. I was in my room. "And how did I get into my room?"

"I carried you here," Richard said. "I was the only one who really could, so…" he shrugged. He seemed to think for a moment and then he asked, "How much do you remember?"

"I remembered that we were betrothed," I said.

"You only got that far, eh?" Richard asked.

"How much more is there?" I questioned.

"Quite a bit," Richard said. "But for time's sake, I suppose I can't wait for you to remember it all on your own. I have to tell you what happened all those years ago."

"Well, start explaining," I said.

"After we were told the news, we all began to talk to not only our betrothed, but to everyone in the marriage group. We all became friends. A few weeks passed, and you were injured."

"By Lady Kine?" I asked.

"Yes," Richard said. "We were all told by you not to breathe a word of what we had discovered. You were afraid of what Lady Kine would do to you and to us. Also, you were planning to run away to your Aunt Mika as soon as you got home."

"I had a dream a few days ago of you talking to me during that time," Ayu said.

"Perhaps you would have remembered on your own even without my intervention," Richard said. "At any rate, we all became great friends. However, the Agency heads had not told anyone of their plan to form an alliance based on arranged marriages. When the news got out, people were outraged. Arranged marriages had been deemed archaic by many in the agencies and the American Agency saw it as a threat. The marriage plans were abandoned.

"To prevent any work to continue the plans, people insisted that all of our memories would be erased. My brothers and I all have special abilities. Rem's is empathy. Rom's is charisma. My ability was to erase the memories of people."

"Like the Sohma's Hatori-san?" Ayu asked.

"It is similar to that," Richard agreed. "I erased all of the memories of what had occurred from the minds of Rom, Elle, and you."

"What about the others and yourself?" Ayu asked.

"Kira and Remus begged me not to erase their memories. I acquiesced. I can't erase my own mind, as much as I wish I could."

"I could always feel gaps in my mind," Ayu said. "And I asked Kira about them, but she told me she had no idea. That liar," Ayu spat.

"She vowed secrecy to me and we three would have been severely punished if anyone found out. Please do not blame her."

"I don't," Ayu grumbled. "That doesn't mean I'm not a little miffed. I'm gonna punch her when she gets back."

Richard shrugged, "Whatever."

They smiled at each other, and Ayu felt the beginning of a new feeling for Richard deep in her heart.

* * *

**PART B**

**New Truths**

DARK'S POV

Meanwhile…

I sat in a plush, soft, armchair as that idiot slept in an identical chair in front of me. I could see why Kira liked him so much; she was an idiot too. I couldn't take the time to allow him to watch Kira's memories - the deadline was soon approaching. I needed to simply explain it to him, in terms even _he _couldunderstand. I sighed; it was such a long story.

He began to stir. I straightened, "Hey, sleeping beauty, you awake?"

"Yes," he slurred.

"Good. Hey, do you ever get colds?"

"Why?"

"Just curious."

"Uh, no, actually. I have a great immune system," Momiji said, looking a little confused.

I smirked, "You know what they say…idiots never _do _get colds."

"Stop being so mean to me-!" Momiji bawled.

"Whatever," I said, tiring of this sport. Man, what a crybaby. Let me take back what I said earlier about him. I do _not _get what Kira sees in him. "Since we are running out of time, I will summarize what you were supposed to see and then we need to come up with a plan, 'kay?"

"Sure," Momiji said.

"Okay, so I have to tell you something that happened a few years before Kira's mission. Kira went to Lady Kine to ask her to give her all of Tohru's suicide missions once she became of age. Kine agreed, knowing that Tohru was far better at medical agent work and Kira would do a better job anyway."

"Wow," Momiji said. "That's brave."

"Yeah, pretty cool, right?" I said. Momiji nodded. "Kira heard that the mission the next day would be a suicide one an hour later. She was very worried, but only told her Aunt Mika and Uncle Tatsu. She had just had a fight with Ayu and she didn't want to worry her sister or anyone else. Kira left early the next morning with her squad, without those under the age of nine. She was second in command at that time, and the head was an older man, around age 70, who had been prepping her to become head in a few years.

"The location of the mission is classified still, so I can't tell you where it was. The purpose was to take over, get information from, and destroy a small outpost of Syphos'. It was thought to be a fairly easy mission, but was given the "suicide" label because of the off chance there may be more people there than thought. Kira left at 500 hours the next day, with her year mates and many of her friends.

"They left a few men a few miles away to call for back up of anything happened. The rest of the force stormed into the outpost. However, the force there was far bigger than imagined.

"It was triple the size of the Agency's force," I said. Momiji's eyes widened. I swallowed deeply. I continued with a shaky voice, "They called for back up, but those left behind were asleep. They did not notice the emergency signal for an hour. By then, it was too late. The force fought bravely, but, one by one, they all fell, until it was just Kira and Scottie. Then Scottie fell. Kira called upon me, and we fought as one. We killed over fifty that day before back up came. Ayu was part of that squad and we fainted in her arms."

There was silence for a few moments. Momiji stared at me as I wiped a few tears from my eyes. "Except for ten of that nearly 100 man force, they all died. Three of the ten living were never able to fight again. One is in a coma, another is paralyzed from the waist down, and the other's leg was cut off from the knee down. Kira still visits them weekly. All three were in her class and are her friends. None of her other friends in the squad lived besides those 10, which included Scottie.

"Of course, Kira was very affected by this. When she woke up three days later, she refused to talk to anyone. Tohru found out about the deal from Kine and fell into a deep depression, blaming herself. Ayu was the one to get her to talk, and helped her recover. That was always the relationship they had; they helped each other get over the bad things, or at least repress them.

"Kira refused to ever talk about that mission to anyone else. Three years later, she went on a mission similar to the one I just described. Although only a few people died, she was still shaken by it. Her mother and she got into a fight. Two days later, her mother died. Although she does not admit it, she carries that grief with her."

There was silence for a few moments. Momiji cleared his throat, "Shit."

I was a little surprised that Momiji would swear. I replied, "I know. That's the story though."

"That's intense."

"Yup," I said. "But we need to come up with a plan to save Kira."

"Can her guardians help us?" Momiji asked.

"No, they were once Suki's. Suki was once the dragon. They're neutral," I said in explanation.

"I see," Momiji said. "Then, how about this…"

He began to explain his plan. I nodded and added things as a smile blossomed on my face. I could see why Kira loved him so much.

You just wait Kira! You're going to be free in no time!

* * *

END OF CHAPTER 19

Notes: Thank you for reading this chapter! Finally! Some plot progress! Sorry for the incredibly slow update. I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!


	20. Art of Standing in Place Art of Moving

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fruits Basket._

A Particular Warning: Dark's potty mouth. Even though she is allowed to say whatever she wants to the person in question at this point…Also, mentions of torture.

_Thoughts/Dreams/Flashbacks/Song Lyrics/Author's Note_

_**Scene/Part Change**_

English

Japanese

* * *

Chapter 20

The Art of Standing in Place

(And the Art of Learning to Move)

* * *

_**Part A **_

_**Diversion**_

Dark walked towards Suki's lair with some apprehension. The new plan in mind, she walked towards the closed door. She was thinking about how easily she could be captured, even though she had masked her presence. She swallowed, as she remembered yet another way she was unlike Kira. _I'm not brave to the point of idiocy like she and that bratling are. _She thought, _I know what can fuckin' __**happen**__._

She steeled her nerves and opened the door. The room was almost completely black except for a candle on a table that illuminated Suki's figure and a single glass of blood red wine. Suki was dressed in yet another black kimono with blood red splotches on it. Suki straightened in her throne. "Dark…" she cooed, "You came to visit me? How sweet!"

_Keep yer eyes off the prize, _Dark thought, noticing the chunk of ice that held Kira in the corner. She looked at Suki and drawled, "Yeah, I came to visit ya. I have something to tell ya."

"Really!" Suki bounced in her chair. "What? What?"

_So annoying. _"Yeah," Dark smirked. "I have something to tell ya all right." Dark cleared her throat. _All right, no pullin' punches, Dark. _"Ya are the biggest bitch in the world. Not only did ya put me in prison for a fuckin' month, and stole my life's ambition, but ya also ruined my two favorite colors, red and black, for me. That is _low. Low, _I tell ya, fuckin' _low._ If ya weren't already dead, I'd tell ya to go jump off a cliff, into a frozen lake with jagged rocks at the bottom with needles stickin' out of 'em and lava coming out, or somethin'. As it is…" Dark lifted her right hand with her middle finger extended, "Go to hell, ya damn mother-fuckin', life ruinin' _bitch." _Dark smirked with an even greater ferocity.

"You! You!" Suki pointed a quivering finger at Dark, her eyes full of rage.

"Yes, me," Dark smirked. "And, yes, I know I'm dreadful, so don't waste your breath or exhaust your pitiably few brain cells to try to come up with a good insult to wound me. Trust me; I've heard them _all _before."

Suki sprung up from her throne and rushed towards Dark. "I'll murder you!" she screamed, rage pouring out of her very pours.

Dark began to run, taunting over her shoulder, "Resorting to violence, eh, Suki? Like that hasn't been done before to me _or_ isn't dignified!"

She ran out of the room, Suki following. As she sprinted down the dimly lit hallway, Dark thought, _It's all up to you now, bratling. Don't blow it._

Momiji walked into the room mere moments after they left…

(_Author's Note: This was a brief scene of what is happening in Kira's mind world. I was going to finish writing Kira's Rescue in this chapter, but because of popular demand, I decided to write what is going on with Tohru. __**Finally. **__There are three reasons why I neglected to write what is happening with Tohru. The first is that I was going to put it right before her rescue. The second is that Tohru is being brutally tortured. I do not feel confident in writing it or posting it. The third is that the torture would push this story's rating to "M" and I do not feel that that rating would be necessary except for the torture. Therefore, I will merely describe the torture here, not in a narrative. If you were looking forward to the full violent description, I apologize._

_Because Syphos believes, with the destruction of the Honda Main House and the new, "weak" and "inexperienced" head of the Agency (i.e. Ayu), there is no rush to get any information, Syphos has forbidden Three to use any severe torture methods, like rape, water-boarding, et cetera. Therefore, Three hits Tohru severely and uses mental torture against her. Zan has continued to help Tohru whenever he can, but his ability to help is very limited; his failure to kill Kira has demoted him in Syphos' mind, although he still holds the same rank._

_We join Tohru as Dark is running away from Suki...)_

* * *

_**Part B**_

_**One Last Chance**_

Tohru was drug down the hallway. Two men pulled each of her arms while her toes dragged against the concrete floors. Her head sagged, neck bent, her chin touching her chest. A third man walked in front of them. When they reached Tohru's cell, the man in front pulled a key from his pocket and opened the cell. The other two roughly threw her into the cell. The door shut with a clang. Tohru's eyes opened, only seeing darkness. She muffled a sob, and pulled her knees to her chest, her joints aching with the effort. She winced to herself, now in a fetal position. She felt faint. Tohru felt her back. The once white cloth was soaked with blood again. She whimpered as it touched the slashes on her back. She knew that she needed to stay positive, but all she wanted to do was face the fact that may be no one was going to save her.

_It's been over a month, _she thought. _Not even Kyo or Kira has tried to save me. _

She knew she could not heal herself, but with her medical training, she also realized she had to stay awake, at least until Zan arrived.

With a feeling of dread, she remembered what Three had said in her last "session."

If she didn't break soon, she would be experimented on _like her father. _

She obviously did not want that to happen. She knew it would do awful things to her, and that she could even die. Tohru hoped that would not happen, but she knew that it could, even if Zan tried to prevent it.

Tohru would be lying if she said she was not slightly afraid of the experimentation. However, she knew that it was very likely, if not certain, that her father went through far worse torture that she was going through. After all, he was captured in Syphos' hey-day, 12 years ago.

_Wow, he really died 12 years ago, _Tohru thought. She then realized the parallels between herself and her late father. How their fates could become so similar; their similarities were becoming more dominant. A young part of her was happy about that.

It was then that she thought what would happen to the people around her. _Well, Kira would be devastated, _she realized. _Like Aunt Mika was with Dad. I hope Kira's doing all right. I hope that she hasn't done anything too rash. I wonder if anyone ever caught Kine. _Tohru then felt the closest thing to hate she had ever felt. She shook her head, thinking that she should not have those feelings; they would not lead to anything good.

She thought about all of the people in her life and tried to guess their reactions if she died, until there was only one left. _...Kyo. I don't know if he likes me back or not, but, if he does, I don't think he will recover. Not to be conceited or anything. If he doesn't, well, I'll simply die with unrequited love on my shoulders. _

Tohru smiled softly to herself. She heard footsteps echoing through the corridor, but did not even have the energy to raise her head or call out to see who it was. The person fumbled with the key, and opened the cell door with a clang. Her cell was illuminated with the dim light of a candle. She squinted from the sudden light as Zan said, "Shit. He really did some damage today."

Tohru tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace from the pain, "Hello, Zan-san."

"Hey, kid," Zan smiled. "I'm glad to see that you're conscious. I was worried that you weren't."

"Thank you for the concern, but really I'm-," Tohru began, but Zan shushed her.

"Don't ya even try to say, 'I'm fine.'" Zan said. "Honestly, most women would be happy to be waited on hand and foot by a guy as good looking as me." Tohru chuckled. "Well, I'm glad that I can make you laugh even in this situation!" Zan smiled. _Not to mention, her father and Mika would like that, _Zan thought.

Zan began to heal Tohru's back as Tohru lay face down on the floor. The pain slowly ebbed away as Tohru's wounds healed. "Sorry again that I can't heal your back more. If I did, Three would get suspicious…"

"Oh, it's fine!" Tohru said smiling. Zan spoon-fed her some soup and placed her in her bed. He pulled the thin blanket to her chin and kissed her forehead.

"Good night, kid."

"'Night, Zan-san," Tohru sighed, already half asleep. It was the first time since her mother's death that she had felt parented.

Zan began to walk away. He picked up his bowl, his spoon, and the towel he brought with him, and walked out of the cell door.

After he shut it behind him, Zan looked back at Tohru, already asleep, through the cell bars. He smiled the saddest smile he had ever smiled. "Thank You, Katsuya, Mika. You gave me the last chance to be cared for in my life."

Hardening his eyes and placing a frown on his face, Zan walked steadily down the hallway, although all he really wanted to do was cry. His footsteps echoed, alone, down the hallway.

Tohru slept on.

* * *

_**Part C**_

_**Missing You**_

As Kyo watched the doors shut behind Momiji, he turned, and walked, hands clenched, out the door of the laboratory. In this manner, he walked across the scenic green campus of Loup Academy, until he reached a small dojo at the edge of school grounds. He went to the boys' locker room right inside the door. He went to his locker, and took his martial arts uniform out. Kyo sat down, took off his shoes, and got dressed in the outfit. He left the locker room, and went out into the dojo floor and began to take out his frustrations harshly on the punching bag.

After a few minutes, he noticed a pair of eyes on him. There, sitting on the ground, in her own uniform, was Jenny. Her red hair bounced as she got up, unemotionally. "Good job," she said in a low monotone. "I did not know you were so good at martial arts."

"Er…yeah," Kyo said softly. The red head had always creeped him out somewhat. "Well, I've been doin' it since I was a little kid."

"No," Jenny said. "You are better than that. You are nearly at my level and your attacks are fused with supernatural curse powers."

"With Tohru gone, I have to do something."

"I see," Jenny paused for a moment. "Are you working out your frustrations about not going to save Tohru now?" Kyo growled to himself. "I am sorry if I am prying," Jenny said.

"Yeah, well, you're right," Kyo said.

"I see," Jenny said. She got up and bowed. "I am sorry if I hurt you."

"You didn't. It was an honest question, and it's not like I'm lyin' to myself. I feel like crap about not bein' able to go get Tohru _right now,_ but there's nothing I can do about it. Tohru wouldn't like me putting myself in danger for her, no matter how much I love her." He said this honestly, not noticing how much he was revealing.

"Thank you," Jenny said. "Goodbye." She bowed a final time and left the room. Kyo turned back to the punching bag and continued to hit it, harder than before.

**_End of Chapter 20_**

**_

* * *

_**

Author's Note: Sorry for the super long wait. I have just started my junior year, so I am wicked busy. Thank you very much for the reviews for last chapter. Thank you so much for reading! Please Review!


	21. Into the Ice

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fruits Basket _by Natsuki Takaya_._

Language Key:

Japanese

English

* * *

Last Time on _Tales of an Onigiri:_

_Dark began to run, taunting over her shoulder, "Resorting to violence, eh, Suki? Like that hasn't been done before to me or isn't dignified!"_

_She ran out of the room, Suki following. As she sprinted down the dimly lit hallway, Dark thought, It's all up to you now, bratling. Don't blow it._

_Momiji walked into the room mere moments after they left…_

* * *

**Chapter 21**

**Into the Ice**

* * *

**_Part A _**

**_Saving Kira_**

Momiji walked to the corner of the room, where Kira, encased in the block of ice, was in a fetal position, her tears turned black. Momiji chanted a few words under his breath and he slowly walked towards the block of ice. He put his arms out and they touched the ice. His vision swam…and suddenly he was in a dimly lit room. Candles floated in the air above his head.

"Wh-who are you?" a tiny voice said suddenly. It was a small girl, her blonde hair in pigtails. He crystalline blue eyes looked up at him warily.

"My name is Momiji Sohma."

"Oh, I'm Kira Honda," the girl said. "I'm this many!" She put up two fingers, "But I'm almost _this_ many." She put up three.

Momiji took a moment to regain his composure. "Well, I'm older than this many." He put up ten fingers. "I'm 15."

"Wooooooow!" Kira said. "You're almost as old as daddy!"

"I am?"

"Mm-hmm!" the little girl chirped. "He's this many," she put up 10 fingers, "Plus this many," she sat on her diapered bottom, and pointed at her feet. "Plus this many!" She grabbed Momiji's right hand and put up three fingers. She smiled as Momiji held back laughter.

"Wow!" he said, "I couldn't do math like that when I was your age!"

"According to mommy and daddy," Kira said matter-of-factly, "I'm super smart or something~!"

Momiji chuckled to himself briefly. Then he remembered his task. "I was wondering if you had seen any older versions of you around my age around here?"

"Nii-san, do you mean Kira-neesan or Kira-neesan or Kira-neesan or…?"

"The one around my age."

"I can't tell age very well, nii-san."

"Oh…" Momiji said, mildly disappointed. Then he brightened, "Can you bring me to any of your nee-sans that are older than you by a lot?"

"Okay," the little girl chirped, "But I have one condition!"

"What's that?" Momiji asked.

"Up!" Kira said. She pointed at his shoulders.

"Oh," Momiji said. He thought for a moment, not realizing what she meant. He suddenly realized her meaning and said, "Alright then." He knelt down and Kira jumped up on his back. They went outside and ran through the dimly let corridors, Kira occasionally giving him directions. They ran happily for a few minutes until they heard a roar.

"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A girl in a black jumpsuit jumped out of nowhere. She held a bamboo sword in her hands lifted high above her head.

"Kira-neesan, wait!"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" the girl screamed, not listening to the little girl. "And what are you doing with Kira?!"

"Kira-neesan! Please listen to me! This is Momiji-niisan."

Still pointing the sword at Momiji's head, she ripped off her black mask, and an older Kira's face was revealed. She looked to be around age 10. "Who is he?"

"He's friends with Kira-nee!" the smaller Kira explained from atop Momiji's back.

"Which one?" the girl said suspiciously.

"Um…I don't know," the smaller Kira said.

"I'm looking for the current Kira," Momiji answered.

"Why?" the older Kira said, finally putting down her sword.

"Because the Agency needs her and so do I."

"Why do you need her?"

"Because I love her. She loved me too, but…perhaps I screwed it all up…"

Seeing the truly sad look on Momiji's face, Kira said, "I don't know what you did, but if the older me loved you at any point…I'm sure she still does."

Kira smiled at Momiji and sheathed her sword. "I mean…I'm stubborn, and I hold grudges for long periods of time. But…if she loves you the way you say she does…well, she'll probably forgive you."

Momiji smiled sadly, "I sure hope so."

"Anyway," the older Kira said, "Let's go find her."

"Okay!" the four year old agreed from Momiji's back.

"Let's go then!" Momiji said. They then continued to run quickly down the halls, the candle lights blurring. Each hallway looked exactly the same. The candles had melted all at the same rate, the doors were spaced in exactly the same way, even the wall color was the same shade. Momiji wondered how the Kiras managed to know where they were in the maze-like home. They then reached a dark corridor. Not even a single candle illuminated the hallway past the border of the darkness and the light.

"I think it's down here," the older Kira said. She grabbed a hovering candle and tried to illuminate a path, but the candle flickered out the second she put it in there. She stared at the smoking wick and said, "Momiji, can you try to illuminate this hallway.

"I'll try." Momiji focused his power and a ball of whirling light illuminated the way in front of him. They began to walk, looking for a door. The older Kira opened the door and they walked into the room. Then, the ground fell out from under them, and they disappeared from sight.

* * *

**_Part B_**

**_Old Memories_**

When Momiji awoke, he had no idea how much time had passed. He noticed that the Kiras were no longer with him. "Kira!" he shouted, but it only echoed in the room. He looked around and noticed that the room was dimly lit and he could see. He saw a door at the end of the room, and decided to walk through it.

_He opened the door and saw that it was a large, mostly empty western style room. A young Kira stood in front of an equally young Richard. On the ground around them lay Ayu, Romulus, Remus, and Elle. Richard moved to put a finger on each of her temples, when Kira said, "Wait."_

_"What is it?" Richard said._

_"I know that you did not erase Rem's memories, that you only put him in a deep sleep."_

_"How did you-?" Remus began, but was answered by a knowing smile. Richard decided not to ask further; he would never get a straight answer._

_"I ask that you do the same for me."_

_"Why?" Richard said._

_"You two need someone to share the burden with. Also, I can let you know when Ayu is ready…ready to remember everything. She's going to run to my house the second she gets home, isn't she?"_

_"Yes."_

_"For no real reason, or so you hope."_

_"Yes."_

_"Well, then, don't you think I can help the illusion."_

_Richard seemed to think for a moment. "You understand that you can show no knowledge of anything, right? Not until Ayu is ready."_

_"I know."_

_Richard nodded, half to himself and half to Kira. "Fine. It will feel as if you are falling into a deep sleep…"_

Momiji stared, stupefied. _What are they talking about? _He wondered, _Kira, what did you do? _The room fell pitch black and everything disappeared. Footsteps echoed around the room, and Momiji shouted, "Hello!"

A point of light flickered in the distance and came towards Momiji very quickly. Soon, a figure became visible. It was another Kira, definitely older than the two year old. The age was the same in the vision, so six? Seven? She looked upon Momiji silently.

"Please take me to the oldest Kira, please."

"Which one? Which number?"

"14?" Momiji said, "The current one, I mean."

"I see," Kira said. "Why do you believe that I will take you there?"

"Because you are an honorable person. I trust you with my life."

"Why would you trust a girl who lied to her best friend for over 10 years about everything?"

"I-I…"

"And only ever did what was expected of her?! My entire future was decided by the time I was six. Six! Why would you ever trust someone like that?! Why?!" It was then that the small girl burst into tears and crouched into a fetal position.

Momiji stood, shocked, for a few moments. Then he crouched down next to her and said, "Because I love her. She is a good person. Some things in life are unavoidable, but people can always change. But I'll always lover her, that will never change, even if she does."

The little girl stared, wide-eyed at Momiji. Then she nodded to herself. "Fine, I will take you to her."

Kira grabbed Momiji's hand, and began to lead him forward, the candle lighting the way. Their footsteps echoed in the room. They walked several yards, until a door was visible. The little girl said, "I can't go in there."

"Why not? Isn't this your mind?"

The girl shook her head. "I just can't."

Momiji looked at her carefully and said, "Ok. Will you be alright?"

The girl kissed him on the cheek and smiled at him. "Of course I will be." Her smile fell from her face. She said, "Good luck." As an afterthought, she said, "Be careful. Things are not very stable in there."

"What do you mean?" Momiji asked.

Kira smiled softly and shook her head. She began to glow a bright yellow light and said, "Goodbye, Momiji-san."

The light enveloped her and grew smaller, until she resembled a single star in the darkness. Then, the pinprick of light flew away.

Momiji took a deep breath and opened the door.

**_End of Chapter 21_**

**_

* * *

_**

Thank you very much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!


	22. Through the Open Door

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fruits Basket. _

_Last Time on _Tales of an Onigiri_:_

_The girl kissed him on the cheek and smiled at him. "Of course I will be." Her smile fell from her face. She said, "Good luck." As an afterthought she said, "Be careful. Things are not very stable in there."_

_"What do you mean?" Momiji asked. _

_Kira smiled softly and shook her head. She began to glow a bright yellow light and said, "Goodbye, Momiji-san."_

_The light enveloped her and grew smaller, until she resembled a single star. Then, the pinprick of light flew away._

_Momiji took a deep breath and opened the door._

* * *

Chapter 22

Through the Open Door

**Part A**

**Saving Kira Part II**

Momiji walked through the door. Through the portal was a room, that reminded him of the quarters of an imprisoned princess. A metal bed with spiral bedposts was stationed beside the outside wall. Above the bed was a window with metal bars impeding upon the night sky. The only light came from the half moon and the stars. On the bed, asleep, was Kira, her face illuminated by the moonlight. Momiji ran over to the bed, and knelt over Kira. He whispered in her ear, "Kira. Wake up."

She opened her eyes blearily. "Momiji?" she asked, looking into his eyes. "Is that really you?"

"Yes," Momiji said, "Yes, it is."

"Now that just proves it," Kira said, rolling away from Momiji.

"Proves what?" Momiji asked, bewildered.

"That this is all just a dream. The real Momiji can't get into my inner world. Not that he'd even try: he loves Miri. Perhaps he always did, even before I left."

"I'm really here Kira!" Momiji cried. "I don't love Miri. I've never loved her; she kissed _me!_ The Leers made technology to get me in here. Everyone has been working to get you out of Suki's clutches…you have to believe me!"

"I let Suki get me. I failed everyone…I failed _Tohru_. I'm not worth anything, so, please, just leave me alone."

They sat in silence for a moment, before Momiji said, "What does it matter? As long as you try to make up for your mistakes, I'm sure no one would hate you for leaving."

"Yes…perhaps. I'm just not sure that I could forgive myself," Kira sighed, and turned over to face Momiji. "I don't know why I'm even bothering telling you this. It's not like you're actually here. You're just telling me what I want to hear, Dream-Momiji."

Momiji sighed, "Fine, I'll just have to prove it to you." He leaned over and kissed Kira square on the lips.

Kira froze the second she felt Momiji press his lips against hers. She closed her eyes and began to kiss him back. They kissed for a few moments, until Momiji pulled back. "Believe me now?" Momiji asked. Kira, beet red, eyes wide, nodded silently. "Good." Then, Momiji realized that he had just kissed Kira. He slowly went red, and said, "I'm sorry if that was inappropriate. I-!"

"I-I didn't mind Momiji. After all, I still love you," Kira smiled, blushing.

"I never had the chance to tell you this, but I love you too," Momiji grinned awkwardly.

Kira grinned widely and leaned in for a kiss. They kissed passionately. They broke apart and Momiji said, "So…how do we get out of here?"

"I can't believe you're making me do this. Ayu's gonna kill me." Kira sighed with a huge smile on her face. "Stand up."

Kira reached out her arm and a sword rushed into her right hand. She clasped it and the sword began to glow with a shimmering light. She smiled, and chuckled, "It's been a while, eh, Momiji, since you've seen a sword in my hands."

"Yeah," Momiji said. "I think that seeing you again has _definitely _made my day."

Kira laughed. Then, she sobered and ordered, "Momiji, hold on to me."

"What?" Momiji asked, blushing.

"Not like that! Just do it!

Momiji clasped both of his hands around her waist, flushing. She grabbed the hilt of the sword with both hands and said, "Ready?" Momiji nodded, unsure what was going to happen next.

Kira thrust, with all of her weight, her sword into the stone floor. Light began to flood through crack, the floor crumbling beneath them. They fell, into the brightness.

* * *

**Part B**

**Dark v. Suki: Battle Royale**

_**A Little Earlier**_

Dark ran through the halls of the mansion before a wall came up ahead of her. "Aw, shit," she swore. She put up her hands and said, "Open!" But, to no avail. The wall would not move.

Suki slowly strutted over to Dark, her heels clicking on the floor. Dark looked back at her and smirked, crossing her arms. "So, ya caught me. Now what?"

"Take it back," she growled.

"No way!" Dark said. "It ain't like it was a lie."

"Take it back, or I will destroy you."

"Now, ya see," Dark said. "I can't really do either. I can't lie, and I _really _don't want to be 'destroyed'." Dark used air-quotes, mocking Suki.

"You are less than dirt."

"Yeah, but I bet this sack of soil can beat ya, Little Miss Holier-Than-Thou." Dark drawled.

Suki drew her sword. It was a sleek black blade, with a blood red handle. Dark unsheathed her weapon, a grey blade with a dark blue handle with a black ribbon coming from the bottom of the handle. She smirked, "Ya gonna go anytime this century?"

Suki growled and rushed toward Dark, lifting her blade high above her head. Dark jumped out of the way just in time. They parried, one never gaining any sort of ground on the other. They were both sweating hard.

Then, a slit of silver light appeared in the ceiling. It widened, until Momiji and Kira fell through. They landed on their feet behind the ongoing battle. Kira grabbed her sword and made to run into the battle against Suki. Dark yelled, calling over her shoulder, "Don't you fuckin' dare interfere!"

Kira stopped in her tracks as Momiji said, "I wouldn't if I were you."

"Why do you say that? If anyone has the right to fight Suki-!"

"You guys are equal in it, and, if anything, Dark deserves it more because she has been as much a prisoner as you and she had no say in the matter. Plus, she got here first," Momiji said. "So, let's just watch her, for now."

Kira pouted, "Alright…" They watched.

Dark bounced back at the same time Suki did and they both shouted, "Slashing Death!" They made a slashing movement with their swords. Dark red pulsed out of Suki's sword as pitch black rushed out of Dark's blade. The colors met in the center of the battlefield, fighting against each other with equal strength.

After a moment, the colors began to dissipate, the majority of the power disappearing. However, a small amount of the colors remained and attacked their opponents. Both Dark and Suki were deeply slashed by the colors, blood flying onto the floor.

Both of them leaned heavily on their blades, fighting to remain standing. It was immediately understood that the first to fall was the loser. Dark gave a final smirk and said, "Fuck." She slowly fell to the floor.

Suki grinned widely and began to walk slowly towards Dark's collapsed body. She smirked, "Die," and she raised her sword above Dark's head, and was about to plunge it into her skull…

…when Dark suddenly vanished, leaving her sword behind on the ground. Suki looked around and said, "Huh?"

Dark suddenly appeared behind Suki, her black kimono swaying and she pulled a dagger out of her robe. She stabbed Suki in the back and said, "I'm not about to let my last words be 'Fuck.' And even though I hate you, I never claimed that I wasn't back-handed." Suki fell to the ground, dead.

* * *

**Part C**

**Back at Loup Academy**

_**A Little Earlier **_

Shinji and Toji sat in a classroom, Suki sitting a few rows ahead of them. They stared blankly at the whiteboard as the teacher wrote on it. Neither of them particularly cared about the lesson. No, they had something far more important on their mind.

It was Day 5 of Momiji's absence, and people were getting worried.

Ayu hadn't slept in five days: an all-time record and it was beginning to show. Remus and Richard had been working on another way to save Kira if this plan did not work and a way to get Momiji out of Kira's mind. Everyone else had been restless, dealing with the stress in their own ways. Shinji and Toji hadn't slept in five days either because they had to deal with Ayu and be on Suki Watch. "Suki Watch" consisted of them stalking Suki 24-7. They were getting sick of it. All they wanted was for Momiji to get a move on; not only because they wanted Kira to return, but so that they could get some sleep.

Suddenly, a loud scream echoed in the classroom before Suki collapsed on the desk, lying perfectly still. Shinji and Toji both stood up out of their seats and handed the teacher a paper. The teacher nodded and they carried the body out of the classroom carefully. As they exited, a quiet murmur enveloped the class, growing louder before the teacher told them to quiet down, and the teenagers were silent once again.

As they carried Kira's body back to the room, the SH adorned, golden locket cracked down the center. Toji took out a pair of black silk gloves and took the locket carefully away from the unconscious Kira. He put it in a plastic bag. He looked to Shinji and said, "You go put Kira in the room. I'm gonna go destroy this and tell Ayu what's happened."

Shinji nodded, and carried Kira bridal-style, as Toji walked away. Shinji began to walk towards the Girls' Dorm. He looked down at Kira and said, "Damn it, ya always find a way to get yourself in trouble, don't ya." Kira remained silent. He smiled down at her and said, "Come back soon, alright."

They walked on.

* * *

**Part D**

**Momiji Triumphant**

_**Meanwhile**_

Everyone had gathered in front of The Gate. They stared silently at the portal with bated breath. Then, suddenly, Richard, who was stationed in front of a monitor, said, "He's coming through~!"

The doors swung open, smoke erupting from the doorway. Momiji stumbled out, and collapsed into Ayu's arms. "I did it," he whispered. Then, realizing his exhaustion, he promptly fell asleep. The room registered this fact, and after a moment, everyone began to cheer.

Ayu began to ordering people to bring Momiji to a room to sleep.

Kira was back…now, the recovery.

_**End of Chapter 22**_

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and sorry for the delay~! Merry Christmas, Happy Belated Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Years, or whatever else you celebrate! I hope you enjoyed it. I'll try to get out the next installment of _Rinpunzel_ out soon, if I could beat the killer Writer's Block on that chapter. Please Review~! **  
**


	23. Reaction Time

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fruits Basket._

Chapter 23

Reaction Time

**Part A**

**Seeing You Again**

Ayu stared at Kira's sleeping face. She just couldn't believe that she was back. She just didn't know how to feel.

She was overjoyed that my best friend had returned. But so much had changed. She chugged some coffee and ran a hand through my hair. She couldn't believe that they had actually managed it. But she couldn't hide the fact that she was more than just a little miffed at Kira. Kira had not only left the Agency and her when it was most vulnerable, but had lied to her for years. But that…that would have to wait until she woke up.

Ayu had pulled rank to be able to sit with Kira but about thirty people were outside in the waiting room right now, waiting to see her. Her family and close friends were the only ones that were allowed inside the waiting room even. In the hallway, her classmates were standing vigil for her. She had been known as the "Professor of Loup Academy" and had been asked out _a lot_ according to Elle. Ayu still did not quite know what to make of that. Never the less, students were holding vigil outside. How bizarre. She would have to ask Kira how she got that name…

Ayu's eyes began to droop and she dozed off, falling into oblivion…

An hour later, Ayu awoke. She was dazed for a moment and looked around her, before realizing where she was. Ayu looked down at the bed to see Kira, arms crossed beneath her head, staring up at the ceiling. Kira noticed a pair of eyes on her and sat up gingerly. "Oh, I didn't know you had woken up," Kira said. "Hi."

Ayu's eyes filled with tears. Then she balled up one fist, and screamed, "YOU IDIOT!" Then, that fist came hurdling at Kira. Kira was caught off guard, and so that fist made contact with her jaw, leaving a red mark.

"Ow…" Kira groaned. "What was that for?"

"That was for being such an idiot!" Ayu said in a deadly whisper. "Ya just run off, without even saying anything to anyone. At the worst time possible! What do you think that would do to the Agency, to Momiji, to Mika, to Tohru, to ME! And then I found out about _that._"

Kira said, "I really am sorry about it all. But, what's _that_?"

Ayu growled, "The secret you've been keeping from me for ten years with the Leers!"

Kira paled. "You know about that?"

"YES!" Ayu said. "Richard told me."

"How typical of him," Kira sighed. Ayu glared at her and Kira said, "What?"

"Well, at least _he_ had the decency to tell me!" Ayu said. "I could always feel the blank spaces in my memories, and you knew that!"

Kira then began to sob. Ayu felt instant remorse; this was supposed to be a happy reunion. Less than ten seconds after their reunion, Kira was already crying and Ayu could feel tears coming. Kira cried, "I-I'm sorry. I-I th-thought I was d-doing the right th-thing."

Ayu opened her arms and drew Kira into a warm embrace. "I know," she said softly. "I know that you were doing what you thought was right. At least there's that. And I do understand that you regret what you've done."

"I-I do!" Kira sobbed even harder. "Every day, I've hated the lies!"

"I know," Ayu said softly. "But you need to promise me one thing."

"What?"

"You need to promise me that you'll never lie to me again…not on that scale at least," Ayu said, looking at Kira straight in the eyes. "Never."

Kira smiled at Ayu. "Alright."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"So, what's been going on in my absence?"

"Well…I'm kinda head of the agency now."

"…"

"Aren't you going to say something?"

"…"

"Kira?"

"Just…why you?"

"I think you deserve to be punched again…"

**Part B**

**Seeing Mika**

Eventually, people began to figure out that Kira was awake. So, Ayu was ushered out of the room, and a steady stream of people entered the room. Mika bantered with Tatsuya for several minutes before agreeing that they should both just go in. Kira looked tired, as Tatsuya sat down in Ayu's old chair, and Mika sat at the end of her bed. They sat in silence for a few moments before Mika gathered Kira into a smothering hug. Tatsuya, of course, joined in the group hug, and Kira was almost suffocated before the embrace finally broke.

Kira smiled crookedly, "Aren't you going to scold me?"

Mika gave her a stubborn glare. "I should," she growled, "but I know other people have been lecturing you all day. Do you understand that it was a mistake?" Kira nodded. Mika said, "Good."

Tatsuya smiled widely and said, "What she really means is that she missed you a lot, and is so glad that you're safe, that she can't be mad at you!"

Mika blushed. Kira began to laugh as Mika said, "Eternal idiot Tatsu. Shut up."

Kira just laughed harder.

**Part C**

**Back to Basics**

When Kyo walked in, Kira was mildly surprised. It was strange to see Kyo visiting her; they hadn't exactly been close. She had thought of him as almost a second Ayu. She shelved her shock and smiled at him softly. He collapsed in the chair, scowling and glaring. It was times like these that she did not quite understand what Tohru saw in him.

He said gruffly, "So…how are you feeling?"

Kira grinned broadly, "All right. And you?"

"Fine," he said.

It was then that Kira noticed the pallor of his skin and the dark circles that ringed his eyes. "Have you been sleeping well?"

Kyo sighed. "You really are her sister." He regarded her steadily and said, "No."

Kira looked at him without quavering, "Why not?"

"You'll find that when the one you love is missing, you loose a little sleep," Kyo snarled.

Kira winced at his tone. _Insensitive,_ Kira thought, _of course he would be worried about my sister. _She then decided to say, "I'm sorry."

Kyo sighed, slumping in his chair. He ran a hand though his hair. "No, I am. I should not have been so sharp with you."

Kira smiled at him and said, "No, I was insensitive." Kyo opened his mouth to respond, when she put up a hand and said, "Don't we're both sorry, that's what's important."

They sat in silence for a few moments, before Kira realized what he had said. Kira looked up. "You love her…Tohru, I mean?"

Kyo looked directly at her. "Yes," he replied. "Yes, I do."

Kira smiled, and thought, _I approve_. "Well, you're in luck, because, if I know Ayu - and I know her pretty well - I think that were going for Tohru soon."

Kyo smiled softly. It was at that moment that Kira saw exactly what Tohru saw in Kyo, and knew that the two were perfect for each other.

**Part D**

**Schoolmates**

It was around 5 PM when Kira heard a knock on the door to her hospital room. She looked up from her book. Her visitors had finally emptied the waiting room at around 3 PM, and she was finally relaxing. She sighed, and called, not tearing her eyes away from the book, "Come in!"

The door opened. Romulus trotted in, and called, "Hey, Girl, Hey!"

Kira, not looking up from her book, replied, "Hey, Girl, Hey!"

Romulus stuck out his lower lip. "I'm not a girl!"

Kira looked at him for a long moment. She raised an eyebrow and said, "Yeah, yeah, you are."

It was at this point that Rom went to go and sulk in the corner. Kira went back to her book. A few moments later, Richard came in, smiling. He glanced over at his brother and said, "What happened to him?"

Kira closed her book and put it on her lap. "Oh, nothing," she smiled. "Go on, sit down."

Richard sat down in the chair. They had some idle conversation, until Elle jogged in. She saw her love, and went over to his corner. "Rommy, baby," she cooed, "What happened?" Romulus mumbled something unintelligible, but Elle somehow understood that it had to do with Kira. "Kira…" she said sweetly, "What did you do to my boo?"

Kira said, "He's just insecure in his masculinity. Ignore him." This stabbed Romulus where it hurt the most. Then, Jenny and Lily jogged in, out of breath (although Lily was the only one who was actually showing signs of exhaustion). Apparently, Rom had run off, overly excited. Richard followed, trying to catch up to stop him from doing anything stupid. Elle simply wanted to follow her boyfriend. This left Jenny and Lily trailing behind, for they were the least athletic.

Kira smiled at them, and they discussed school and other things. Then, the question Richard had been waiting for popped up. "Where's Remus?" Kira asked. "I would expect him to be here."

Rom and Richard looked at each other. Rom was the first to speak. "The brief version is that he's being a coward." Elle swatted at his arm, pinning him with a glare. Rom put up both his hands and cried, "What?! It's true!"

Richard explained, "He's slightly afraid to see you. You both were a little cold to each other before you left."

Kira crossed her arms. "He started it," she explained. "He was the one who just couldn't be nice."

Richard regarded her carefully, and said, "Please tell me you're over it."

"Yeah, I am," Kira said. "It was a stupid argument. It was about my future as a novelist and we both won in a way. I'm still writing, I'm even coming out with _The Trumpeter_ on schedule, and I was able to go work for The Agency again."

"I know," Richard sighed. "But can you blame Remus for not?"

"No," Kira sighed. "I'll go visit him soon. I have some interesting things to tell him." The conversation between the group of friends continued, as Kira planned her night.

**Part E**

**A Melancholy Man**

Footsteps flashed silently against the hardwood floor of the boy's dorms. Shadows flickered on the wall, created by moonlight and stars. A girl caught in the boy's dorms after hours was a heinous crime, even if she was a Blue level. So she ran silently, alone, in the quieted dorms.

She finally reached her final location, and knocked on the door. She heard the creaking of bedsprings, and the thud of feet hitting the floor. As the footsteps approached, she swallowed. The door opened. She squinted into the dim light, as it appeared from the door. Remus Leer stood in the doorway. His brown hair was tousled messily from sleep, his grey eyes were bleary, and his clothes mussed. This was a sight that few got to see; only Kira and Remus' brothers had ever seen the perfectly pressed boy this relaxed or undone. Remus stared at the girl at his doorway blankly for a moment and rubbed his eyes. He then said sleepily, "Kira? Is that you?"

Kira smiled at him. "Hello, Remy. How are you doing?"

Remus yawned and turned around. The open door was a silent sign to enter. Kira walked into Remus' dorm room, and sat down on the chaise: her chair. Remus collapsed on the couch in front of her. In the year since Kira had last seen him, he had changed a lot. He was taller now, no longer a collection of long arms and legs, gracefully bounding about (in contrast to Rom, who had been the clumsiest boy in the world during his awkward stage; he had always been slightly jealous of Remus, for that). Remus had grown handsomer too. Remus was closer to being grown up…whereas Kira felt as if she had hardly changed at all.

Remus said, "You've grown."

Kira blinked, "I was about to say the same about you." They laughed a laugh that only two people who truly understood each other could. Kira said jokingly, "Are you over the marvelous _me _yet?"

Remus chuckled, "Of course I am. I think we were over each other before we even began. I think I would want someone like you, but not you, you know?"

Kira looked at him, perplexed, "I think?"

Remus smiled, "Well are you over the Dashing Remus yet?"

Kira laughed, "Totally, besides, I have Momiji now!" With that, she got a dazed look on her face.

Remus groaned, "Aw, great! Another love-struck duo!"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Remus said, "There's Rom and Elle…"

Kira raised an eyebrow, "That's never going to change, alright?"

"…and Ayu and Richard. Honestly, I feel as if I'm the only one not…" he trailed off at Kira's dropped jaw. "What, you didn't know?"

"NO!" Kira shouted. "THAT BITCH! NOT EVEN TELLING ME!"

"Calm down," Remus said soothingly. "They're not in a relationship yet."

"What do you mean?" Kira said.

"They both obviously like each other. Both of them unable to take their eyes off the other. It's only a matter of time." Remus stretched and settled down. "I'm the only true bachelor left."

Kira laughed, but then sobered quickly. "Anyway," she said, "I have something to show you. Could you bring me my laptop?"

Remus brought over the computer, and Kira began clicking away at it. Remus said, "By the way, I read _The Trumpeter_."

"Yes, and?" Kira said. "Did you like it?"

"It's brilliant. Better than anything you've ever written. Even better than _The Violinist." _

Kira smiled, and pulled up the document. "Thank you. Anyway, read this, and answer honestly about what you think about it."

Remus took the computer and began to read. His jaw dropped as he continued. He said, looking up from the screen, "This is how to break the curse."

"Yes," Kira said, "I finished right before I left. I even just added a little bit." She waved a flash drive.

Remus quickly read it over and said, "This is genius. You found a way to keep our powers and separate the Dark sides from us while not killing them and giving them a body of their own!"

Kira smiled, "Do you like it?"

"I love it!" Remus said.

The two of them sat in silence for a brief moment. Then Kira said, "Could you make the device to enable it?"

"Yes," he said. "Just give me about six months…"

"Could you get it done within three days?" Kira asked.

Remus froze. "...Why must you always ask the impossible of me?"

Kira looked at him and shrugged. "Because I know you can do it."

Remus sighed and said, "Can I at least ask Richard to help? He's the one that's good at science…"

"No," Kira said sharply. She glared at him.

Remus furrowed his brow. "Why not?"

Kira's entire mood seemed to shift before Remus' eyes. She smiled and said, "It's a secret!"

Remus sighed and decided not to press Kira about her mood shift. _May be she's just PMS? _he thought. They talked idly about the gossip circulating around the school about their fellow classmates and recent news about their friends and families. Then Remus looked at the Hello Kitty clock on his wall (installed and found by Kira two years ago; he did not have the heart, patience, or the motivation to take it down), and saw that it was almost four in the morning. He groaned internally, realizing that he had been talking to Kira for almost four hours, and he had school tomorrow. He got up, stretching. Then he looked at Kira and said, "Well, I have school tomorrow, and you need to get some rest, so I think it's time to go to bed." He made to walk to the door that went out to the hallway, but Kira grabbed his t-shirt. He looked down at her, and said, "What is it?"

"I need to tell you one more thing before you go," Kira said. "Please, sit down." Remus sat back down on the sofa. Kira took a deep breath, and looked directly into Remus' eyes.

Then she said, "I have a favor I need to ask of you."

Remus had no idea of what was coming.

The night continued on beyond them.

The moon and the stars remained, above, looking down at them.

At Tohru,

crying in her cell from pain.

At Mika,

a woman haunted

by her dead siblings when the sky was dark.

At Zan,

a man who was pacing around his room,

made an insomniac from his moral dilemma.

At Syphos,

haunted by his lost love

and old decisions.

At Three,

asleep in his bed,

smiling from the evil in his dreams.

At Ayu,

asleep in her bed,

peacefully asleep for the first time in months.

At Richard,

asleep like Ayu.

At Kira,

a girl who didn't know her fate,

and was possibly making a great mistake.

And,

at Remus,

a melancholy man to the core,

who had to make a choice.

**End of Chapter 23**


	24. A Man Ruled By Fate

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fruits Basket. _

xXx

Chapter 24

A Man Ruled By Fate

xXx

**Part A**

**Battle Plans**

The offensive against Syphos looked like this.

The Great Board contains the following people: the Head of the Agency (Ayu), the Head of the Medical Division (previously Tohru, but in her absence, her deputy took over), the Head of the Technology Division (previously Ayu, now Sada), the Top Three Agents (Mika, Tatsuya, and Kira/Shinji (Shinji took over in Kira's absence)), the Spy Leader (Kira/Toji), and the High Elder. The Great Board decides what to classify missions as, and what the general offensive against their greatest enemies were.

During the time spent at Loup Academy, the Board had decided to attack the smaller-medium sized bases, with much success. All that was left of Syphos' forces were a handful of tiny bases, and their central headquarters.

The morning after Kira returned, she received a letter in slightly messy handwriting, which read:

_Dear Miss Kira Honda,_

_ The headquarters of Syphos' forces is in a castle in Spain. A map to the castle is enclosed. I would also like to inform you that your sister is doing well, considering the circumstances. _

_Sincerely,_

_A Friend_

A map to the castle and a very detailed layout of the castle was included with the letter. This mystified many people, especially because of its intractability. However, it was obvious that it was from the same person as before. Due to the sender's reliability the first time, they decided to trust him once again, and built their entire plan around that.

Three forces would go into the castle. The first's objective was to find Syphos and kill him, which was led by Mika. The second's objective was to destroy the main force, led by Tatsuya. The final group was to find Tohru and, unsurprisingly, Kira was leading that group. The groups were evenly broken up. Most importantly, Kyo, Remus, and Richard were assigned to Kira's group.

Ayu was forced to remain behind due to her status as Head of the Agency, much to her chagrin.

The battle progressed in the following way:

xXx

**Part B**

**The Battle: Part I**

_**Decent **_

Kira stood at the gate of Loup Academy, looking back at her old school. Behind her, the Agents were traveling towards Syphos' headquarters, ready for battle. Ayu stood next to her and said, "Lucky. You can actually go."

Kira snorted, "I wouldn't call going into battle lucky."

Ayu smiled, "True, true. But it's better than waiting for everyone to return."

Kira shrugged, "It's not as if you aren't going to come and catch up."

Ayu looked at her, shocked. "How did you-?"

Kira laughed, "We've been best friends for years Ayu. If I didn't know that you wanted to go too, then I would have to be either very self-centered or _way_ too oblivious."

Ayu nodded and said, "I'll follow you soon. But you have people to lead Kira."

Kira smiled at Ayu and said, "Bye!" Kira ran into the setting sun, Ayu watching after her. When Kira was just about to fade out of sight, she turned and waved largely, silhouetted by the sun. Ayu waved back, and Kira continued to run. Ayu slowly lowered her hand and whispered, "So long, Kira." She had no idea why she felt so sad…

Then she turned, and walked into the darkening night sky. It was almost time.

xXx

**Part C**

**The Battle: Group A (Mika)**

_**The Beginning**_

As always, battle was bloody. Everyone assumed that Syphos would be in the center building. However, the men had to travel there, on foot, while fighting against others.

Mika had seen her fair share of blood in her life: her own blood, the blood of her siblings and the rest of her family, and the blood of her enemies. But never had Mika been in a battle quite as large or as bloody as this.

As she fought, her only remaining brother by her side, she thought, _So much blood…I think I'm going to have nightmares over this one._ With that, Mika closely dodged a blow meant for her heart.

_If I survive…_

xXx

**Part D**

**The Battle: Zan and Tohru**

_**Time**_

Zan rushed downstairs to the dungeon, not caring who saw him for once. Not that there was anyone to see him…everyone was busy. He flashed on the lights in the prison area, causing groans from all the prisoners. Zan rushed to Tohru's cell, wrestling the key out of his pocket. He slid it into the lock, the door clicking open…

…just as Tohru was rolling out of bed. "Zan?" she asked sleepily. "What's going on?"

"You're going home. Your friends are here." In a rush to get out of bed, Tohru fell to the ground. Zan rushed over to her, but she was already getting up. "Are you alright Tohru?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she smiled. "What's happening outside?"

"A battle."

Tohru paled and said, "I have to help them."

"No, Tohru, just get to safety," Zan said.

"But-!"

"No buts," Zan said. "The knowledge of your safety will help more people than your healing."

Tohru nodded, listening to Zan. "Alright," she agreed.

Zan smiled, and said, "Now go."

Tohru made to leave, but then she turned, her brow furrowed. "Wait. But Zan…" she began. "What about you?"

Zan smiled softly, "I fear I am past redemption."

Tohru said, "Look at me." Zan looked up into Tohru's determined eyes. "The man I love more than anyone believes that too, but…as long as a person is trying to help other people, then they are never past redemption."

Zan said, "Thanks." Then, he looked up and smiled at Tohru. The smile was truer than any he had smiled since he was just a child, in front of a girl. That smile vanished, and he said, "Well, anyway, you need to get going. I have things to do…before I move on."

Tohru smiled and nodded. Then, she suddenly rushed into his arms and gave him a bone-crushing hug. As a phoenix, she whispered, "Be safe." Then she flew out of his arms, grabbing her clothes, and up the stairs, to the battlefield. She soared above the bloody scene, wanting nothing more than to help the dying on the cold soil. Instead, she gazed for orange hair.

When she saw it, she let out a sigh of relief, and plunged down, landing on his shoulders. She allowed her fiery plumes to settle on his shoulders, and her clothes to fall to the ground. Tohru faced his opponent and opened her beak widely, allowing a burst of flame to shoot out, towards the man that Kyo was fighting. He was engulfed in flames, and was incinerated. Tohru sagged on Kyo's shoulder and said, "I love you." Then she fell, and Kyo caught her.

He stroked her feathers and whispered, "I love you too." He kissed her tiny head.

Kira watched on from the sidelines and smiled softly to herself. Then she turned and walked away.

Meanwhile, Zan turned from the place Tohru had flown from and walked down the hall. He smirked and said to himself, "Time to do some bad, bad things."

xXx

**Part E**

**The Battle: Ayu and Syphos**

_A Man Ruled by Fate_

Ayu teleported towards the battlegrounds. True to Kira's prediction, she knew that she could not simply stand on the sidelines while her men fought.

Yes, _her_ men. Ayu _had_ taken responsibility of the position that she had certainly never wanted. However, she would not be like Kine: a leader that simply stood by the sidelines, while sending men to their deaths. No, she would be a leader of _action_, like her father and mother before her. Ayu could finally accept her mother, the red-haired hero, who had saved thousands of people. The woman who lost her mane and her life, not to battle, but to Cancer.

Ayu thought, _But it would be stupid just to think I am going there for just noble reasons. I don't want Kira to take all the glory either. _

She finally came into sight of the battleground. What she saw horrified her: the mutilation and burning of human flesh, the moans of despair, the _death_. Ayu had thought she had seen just about everything on a battlefield, but she suddenly realized that she was wrong. Trying not to look down, she rushed towards the center of the city until she came into sight of the skyscraper: the center of Syphos' operations. She landed on the roof, and went down the stairs, onto the top floor of the tower.

Ayu gasped in surprise at what she saw.

The entire floor was empty, filled with steel, except for in the very center, where there was a single hospital bed and several monitors. She walked to the bed, and looked at the man who was laying in it.

Syphos stared right back at her.

"Hello, Lady Ayu," Syphos croaked. He cleared his throat and continued, "How do you do?"

Ayu did not answer. Syphos was very pale and was hooked up to several monitors. However, one thing was particularly strange about the situation. He was handcuffed to the bed. Ayu said, "I'm a sight better than you."

Syphos chuckled, "That is true." He quickly sobered and said, "But, Ayu, could you do a small favor for a dying man?"

"Why should I Syphos?" Ayu demanded. "I don't owe you anything."

Syphos got a sad smile on his face and said, "Indeed, you don't. But you'll get a very interesting story out of it and…perhaps you'll even want to do what I ask afterwards."

Ayu sat on the end of his bed and said, "Tell the story, then I'll decide."

Syphos smiled, "It all began many years ago."

_**Flashback**_

_**Japan: December 1945**_

_**(Syphos Point of View)**_

_From the day I was born, I was always shunned in the Agency. The children around my age refused to talk to me, and the adults looked at me with hateful looks. To this day, I have no idea why they looked at me in this way; probably it was due to some sort of scandal. I never spoke to anyone, or even cared about anyone…until I met __**her**__._

I sat on a park bench. The snow had been light that winter, but it was still very cold. I pulled my thin, navy jacket closer to my body. My mother had kicked me out of the house until seven o'clock that evening. I was six years old. The sky was a grey-white, and the air held the smell of snow. I looked up at the sky and felt a few pieces of snow hit my face. I sighed. Two hours to go, and it was _snowing._

Then I heard a shout, "Hey you!" I turned and saw a little girl running towards me in a bright red kimono, her black hair trailing behind her. As she passed, she grabbed my hand and we ran down the path.

_That was the beginning of it all. The beginning of my time with Lady Kine Honda, my one and only. _

_Kine was the only one to accept me. In the beginning, she was like a sister to me. She took care of me: bringing me food when my mom "forgot" to feed me, brushing my hair, that sort of thing. When we were little, we always played together. _

_ As I got older, I began to realize that my feelings for Kine were not just like those of siblings. I __**loved **__her. If I wasn't around her, I had no idea what to do with myself. Whenever she went on a mission without me (which was rare, we were a duo to be reckoned with), I would have nightmares about what would happen if she __**died.**__ When I was around her, I always wanted to hold her. But my arms would always stay close to my sides. I was a coward._

_**May 1959**_

I was about to get ready for bed when there was a frantic knock at my college dorm room door. I stood, walked to it and walked to the door. Kine was there sobbing.

She was a mess. Black streaks of mascara were running down her face, and the rest of her make-up was simply ruined. Her bags were drenched; her hair was dripping. Her clothes (very fashionable for the late 50s), were darkened by water. Kine's eyes were red.

"Ki-kine," I said, "Are you okay?"

"J-joben cheated on me!" Kine wailed. I rushed her into my room, thanking God that my roommate wasn't there. I let her sit on my bed and hugged her, to try to rein in my homicidal tendencies. Then she began to tell the entire grisly story.

Joben was a guy who Kine had been dating for a little over six months. I never liked him, but had never told Kine that (out of fear for my life). Kine had been in love with him, but it was obvious that Joben did not feel the same way. I had been worried about the relationship, but with much persuading by Kine, I put my doubts aside.

"Do you want me to go kill the bastard?" I said.

"No, Yasuo," Kine said to me. "He doesn't deserve that."

We talked for a few more hours and she fell asleep in my dorm.

_That was the night that I decided that I should tell Kine what I felt for her._

_**March 1960**_

I sat down next to Kine on the same park bench I had been pulled off of when I was six years old. She was in a light pink dress, her black jacket encasing her delicate form. She looked up at me and smiled, "Hey."

"Hey," I returned. "So, uh, you're probably wondering why I asked you to meet me here." She nodded. "Well, um, I have something to tell you."

She interrupted me, "I have something I need to tell you too." She bit her lip, "Can I go first?" I nodded, and she took a deep breath, "Well, you see…Ireallyreallylikeyou,. So yeah." The words came out in a jumble, and I couldn't understand her. I looked at her blankly.

"What?"

"Well…" she cleared her throat. "I really, really like you. Not in the 'I like you as a friend sort of way', but in a romantic way."

We sat in silence for a moment, then I began to laugh. Kine looked at me, shocked. "What are you-?"

"I'm just really happy!" I exclaimed. "You see, I was going to tell you that too."

She smiled widely, and kissed me on the lips.

I held her close, never wanting to let go.

_**December 1968**_

_Kine told me that she had to marry Joben on a cold day in mid-December. I trembled as I re-named myself Syphos. As I walked away from a screaming Kine, I realized that there was no snow._

_**June 1975**_

_It had been six years, seven months, and five days since the last time I had been able to see her face and __**breathe**__ again… _

I peeked into Kine's bedroom window. It was midnight, and all I wanted to see was Kine's form, asleep and at peace. I heard sobs before I saw her face. Tears were making their way down her face. All I wanted to do was go over there, take her into my arms, and brush away her tears.

Then, she saw me.

Our eyes met, and time stopped. I jumped in through her window, and she came running towards me, into my arms. We kissed passionately, lovingly. I broke off the kiss, and whispered against her lips, "I missed you so much." She smiled in a way that meant _Me too. _That was all that was needed. We laid down on the bed.

…

_When I left her, asleep, that night, I had to tear myself away. I shook as I left, trying not to look back._

…

_Nine months later, I heard that she had had six children. I was angry and betrayed, thinking they were Joben's._

_I allowed "Syphos" to take over, and "Yasuo" to stay inside, asleep._

_**November 1999**_

The children were so familiar. We had captured the first ranked in the Agency, Katsuya Honda, and all my men were celebrating.

I caught Zan's attention and asked, "Who is this 'Katsuya,' anyway?"

He looked at me strangely. "Well, milord," Zan began, "He is a son of Lady Kine Honda. He has the highest position in the Agency."

I froze, and Zan walked away.

Later that week, I went down to the dungeon. I was making my rounds, when I heard a man shout, "Hey! Hey you!"

I turned, and I saw a man who looked a lot like Kine. He had her facial structure and her eyes. But his hair…his hair was familiar. He wore glasses. The grinned crookedly at me and said, "My name is Katsuya Honda, what is yours?"

My mouth went dry, and I croaked out, "Yasuo."

_That was the beginning of my friendship with Katsuya, which was begun in the same sort of whirlwind way that the one with his mother began; I was sucked in by their crazy charisma._

_I could not give him preferential treatment, so I was forced to allow 3 to experiment on him like the other prisoners. Still, I wanted to know if he was my son, so I ran a paternity test…_

_**End Flashback**_

"Was he yours?" Ayu asked.

"Yes," Syphos said. "He was."

"So that makes me your…granddaughter?" Syphos nodded. They sat in silence for a long while. Then Ayu said, "What happened next?"

"I tried to find a cure for the disease that I had given him. But I failed. As his condition worsened, I found out that Zan was going to try to return him to the Hondas before he died. I allowed him to do so, promising to give him the cure if I found it. He died a few days later." Syphos looked down at his hands, his throat growing too big for him to talk.

Ayu then asked, "How did you get here?" She motioned to the handcuffs, and the bed.

"I have cancer," he replied. "I've been dying for a very long time. And with Kine gone, there's no point in living. 3 overthrew me as well a few weeks ago." Syphos cleared his throat, "He is too brutal. But he overthrew me forcibly, and easily because I'm so ill. I never wanted him to become leader, or Zan to be placed so precariously…"

Ayu nodded, "I'll go stop him."

Syphos smiled and said, "Also, could you give Mika and Tatsuya this." He handed her a letter, "I think they deserve to know the truth…about everything."

Ayu said, "Okay."

Syphos smiled at her and ran a hand through her red hair, "I wish I could have gotten the chance to get to know you better. You would have made a great granddaughter."

Then his hand fell to his side, and his eyes closed. A monitor let out a long beep as Syphos flat-lined. Ayu cried above him, mourning the loss of her grandfather, a man who was ruled by fate.

xXx

**END OF CHAPTER 24**

xXx

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the long wait…I was super busy, and I wasn't sure how much should be in this chapter. I then had issues with the site… On another note: It kind of crept up on me but… the next chapter will be the last, followed by a brief epilogue (Another reason for the long wait…).

Please review in honor of the final chapters!


	25. Into the Dawn

Disclaimer: I do not own _Fruits Basket._

~O~

Chapter 25

_Into the Dawn_

~O~

**Part A**

_**A Rendezvous**_

A figure stood at a console, feverishly clicking away. Then a voice buzzed from his headset, "Sir! The Honda forces have breached the North Wall! I repeat-!"

"I hear ya, I hear ya," the figure said. "I'm trying to fix it now."

Then a voice said from the darkness, "You can't do that, Three."

"Wh-who goes there?" Three turned. Zan walked from out of the darkness. "Ah, Zan, it's you." Zan unsheathed his sword. "Well, I see you're here as an enemy, you filthy little turn-coat." Three turned back to the console, "Whatever. I never liked you anyway."

Zan ran to him, sword pointed, when Three turned and blocked it with his own blade. "What is it, boy? Do you want to fight?"

Zan raised an eyebrow and said, "No, I just wanted to get out my sword so I could roast marshmallows on it."

"Brat." They then began to fight.

~O~

**Part B**

_**Someday**_

_Meanwhile…_

"So you finally made it."

Ayu spun around to find Kira, running behind her. She grinned, and came up to be right next to her. "Yeah," Ayu replied. "I did."

"Hey…" Kira looked critically at Ayu. "Why so glum?"

Ayu looked at her for a moment and said, "No reason."

Kira knew that she was lying, but did not want to press it. There was no time to do so. She would ask her…

…someday.

~O~

**Part C**

_**Apology**_

_Meanwhile..._

Zan fought Three viciously. They had never liked each other…and Zan wanted to destroy him for all of the things he had done. Even if it would kill him. In Syphos' - no Three's – organization, his days were numbered. He wanted to do something right…

…and it was at that point that Zan saw his golden opportunity. As Three struck out with his sword, he left himself wide open. It would take luck, and him being a little too close for comfort, but he could do it.

So Zan struck, stabbing Three in the heart.

…as Three's blade cut into his stomach.

They fell from each other, bloody, as Mika arrived on the scene, sword bared.

She looked into Three's lifeless eyes, and felt something akin to pity, before she turned to Zan. She looked at him, recognition flashing in her eyes. "…Are you him? That boy?" Zan nodded slowly. Mika began to sob.

He slowly raised a bloody hand to her cheek, "Don't cry. Please." She stopped and he smiled at her. "Good."

That was when Kira and Ayu arrived, quickly followed by Shinji, Toji, Momiji, Tatsuya, Remus, and Richard. They gasped when they saw Three, and looked on, shocked, as Mika cradled Zan's head in her lap. Ayu walked over to Tatsuya and whispered, "Open this later, with Mika." She handed him the letter and Tatsuya nodded grimly.

Momiji sidestepped to Kira and placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped nervously, but seeing him, she relaxed. She pulled him down into a passionate kiss. They broke apart slightly, and she whispered to him, "I'm sorry." With that, she pressed down on the button on the top of her necklace shaped like a silver pocket watch, and time stopped.

Remus looked around him and said, "It's time, isn't it?"

Kira nodded, and whispered against Momiji's lips, "Yes."

~O~

**Part D**

_**A Melancholy Man (Part II)**_

_Flashback_

_Remus made to walk to the door that went out to the hallway, but Kira grabbed his t-shirt. He looked down at her, and said, "What is it?"_

"_I need to tell you one more thing before I go," Kira said. "Please, sit down." Remus sat back down on the sofa. Kira took a deep breath, and looked directly into Remus' eyes._

_Then she said, "I have a favor I need to ask of you."_

_Remus had no idea what was coming…_

_Remus just looked at her. "What favor?" Remus said. "You've been acting strange all night. What's going on?"_

_Kira looked down at her hands and said, "I'm calling you on that favor you've owed me for a long time…it might not be an equal exchange but…"_

_"Tell me what you need Kira," Remus said. "I'll do it. I would do it even if I didn't owe you for that time."_

_Kira swallowed, and looked up into Remus' grey eyes. "Well, it's like this. You see, I've never really been able to make my own decisions." Remus opened his mouth, but Kira put up a hand. "Wait, Remy, don't interrupt me. If you do, I might not be able to say it." Remus nodded._

_Kira took a deep breath. "I've always been tied by expectations…from others, from myself…it doesn't matter. I made promises when I was actually too young to make them."_

_"Like about joining the Agency and vowing to always protect Tohru?" Remus said._

_"Yes," Kira said. "Those among many others. Because of that, I have never been true to myself, or to the people that I love. I need to find out who I really am though, to be really truthful. Otherwise, it's __**still**__ not fair. To anyone."_

_"Wait…why does this involve me? I mean, if you want to 'find yourself,' isn't that something __**you**__ need to do?"_

_"Well, you see, as long as I'm with the Agency and around the people I know, I can never really find my true self…they'll just keep pulling me back to my 'fake' self." Kira took a deep breath. "So I need to go far from here…far, far away." She looked at Remus; as if to justify herself, she said, "I already know where I'm going, what I'm going to be doing. I just need help with a few things." Kira paused, but Remus just stared at her. "Well…?"_

_"I understand why you're going," Remus said softly. "I'll even help you…but you can't blame me for being a little mad at you right now."_

_"Why are you so mad?" _

_"Why do you think Kira?" Remus shouted. "We've been trying to get you back for months! I mean, we could have died getting you back…especially Momiji! We down played the danger he was in on purpose, but he really could have died Kira! What about Ayu? What about Tohru? What about Momiji? What about __**me?**__" Remus cradled his head in his hands._

_Kira came over and sat next to him. She hugged his tortured form and said, "You'll miss me, Remy?" _

_Remus nodded. "Well, you are my best friend." They sat like that for a few moments. Then, Remus straightened and, with a stubborn gleam in his eyes, said, "Alright, what do you want me to do?" _

_"I want you to give some letters to the people I'm leaving behind right after I leave," Kira said. "To say goodbye." Kira paused. "I also want you to wait by the phone every morning on my birthday, July 19__th__. I'll call you, and you can update me on what's going on…and I'll tell you what's going on." Remus nodded. "Is that okay with you?" He nodded again. "Good," she stood. She smiled back at him softly and said, "Goodbye, Remy. You'll always be like a brother to me." Then she flickered away, and Remus felt as if she had always been a ghost, just beyond his fingertips. _

_Remus leaned back against the couch, throwing his arm across his eyes. _

_After a few moments, streams began to appear from under his arm. _

_Remus cried…for Momiji, for Ayu, for Tohru, for all the people who would be affected by this act…_

_…for Kira…_

_...for himself. He cried for the Melancholy Man…the person who could never be "the one." He cried for this new night…that he, the Melancholy Man, would have to suffer through while Kira was not there. _

_He cried for the night._

~O~

**Part C**

_**Fare thee well, sister mine.**_

Kira untangled herself from Momiji sadly. Then she said, "Do it." Remus took a small device from his pocket, and pushed a button down on it.

There was a blinding flash of white light. When the light cleared, on the ground laid several people, all dark sides, dressed in their ceremonial outfits. Remus looked down to see Kira's dark side, ignoring his own, so he could see the infamous "Dark." When he saw her, his heart stopped; _She's beautiful, _he thought. He was awakened from his daze by a clearing of a throat. Kira looked at him expectantly. "Oh. Sorry," he said sheepishly.

She nodded and said, "Here you go," giving him the letters. He took the pile, and placed them on the ground. When Remus straightened, he caught a flying Kira who tackled him. He took a step back as she cried into his shoulder.

After a few moments, he whispered into her ear. "You don't have to go Kira."

She said, "Yes. Yes, I do, Remy, and you know it."

He sighed and said, "I do." Remus held her tightly to himself.

After several moments, they separated, Kira still sniffling. She took off her stopwatch and said, "Press this after I'm out of sight…and when you're ready." He nodded. She kissed him on the cheek and said, "Goodbye."

He looked at the girl who was like a sister to him…and a dear friend, as she turned and ran off, into the dawn. When she became a mere silhouette, he whispered, "Goodbye." Then she vanished into the sun, leaving the traces of her life behind…to be mourned.

Remus shuffled through the letters, looking for his own, before finding an envelope that read, "For Remy." He opened it, and a CD popped out. He took his CD player (that he just happened to have with him) and listened to track one:

_In the light of the sun, is there anyone? Oh it has begun...  
Oh dear you look so lost, eyes are red and tears are shed,  
This world you must've crossed... you said..._

You don't know me, you don't even care, oh yeah,  
She said  
You don't know me, and you don't wear my chains... oh yeah,

Essential yet appealed, carry all your thoughts across  
An open field,  
When flowers gaze at you... they're not the only ones who cry  
When they see you  
You said...

You don't know me, you don't even care, oh yeah,  
She said  
You don't know me, and you don't wear my chains... oh yeah,

She said I think I'll go to Boston...  
I think I'll start a new life,  
I think I'll start it over, where no one knows my name,  
I'll get out of California, I'm tired of the weather,  
I think I'll get a lover and fly him out to Spain...  
I think I'll go to Boston,  
I think that I'm just tired  
I think I need a new town, to leave this all behind...  
I think I need a sunrise, I'm tired of the sunset,  
I hear it's nice in the Summer, some snow would be nice... oh yeah,

Boston... where no one knows my name... yeah  
Where no one knows my name...  
Where no one knows my name...  
Yeah Boston...  
Where no one knows my name.

He smiled, and knew where she had went…and that she would be happy. No one was getting this information out of _him. _Even at death.

Remus turned to the sleeping people around him and said, "I guess it's time to do this." He pressed the button on the stopwatch.

And all hell broke loose.

**End of Chapter 25**

~O~

By the way, the lyrics are from the song "Boston," by Augustana. I think it came out a few years ago.

At any rate, this was the final chapter of the _Tales of an Onigiri _Saga. Next update will be the very exciting epilogue and a farewell note. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for staying with me this far!

Please review to tell me what you think!


	26. Epilogue: A New Dawn

Final Disclaimer: I do not own _Fruits Basket_ by Natsuki Takaya.

**Epilogue**

_**A New Dawn**_

_July 19__th_

_Five Years Later_

It was 4:57 AM. Remus Leer, now aged 21, sat in the post-dawn light, in an armchair. He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair, waiting for a certain phone call.

Remy had not gotten any sleep that night, worried that he might miss the call, or that it would never come. He was staring at the phone, glancing up at his Hello Kitty clock. It was almost time.

_It's been five years, _he thought, _Five years since that morning. _

Remus thought back to that hellish dawn:

_Time unfroze. For a moment, Remus thought that it hadn't worked because everyone was so stationary. Momiji was the one to break the silence, "Where did you go, Kira?" He stared at his empty arms, as if something made of stone had just turned into smoke and had flown away. _

_With that, the spell was broken, and hell broke loose. Everyone looked around, knowing something was up. The Dark Sides rose, with varying reactions. Remus' eyes were on Dark, whose red eyes shot open; she sat up and looked at him. Then she said, "She's gone, isn't she?" Remus nodded. Dark sighed, and fell back, staring up at the sky. "That moron," she muttered. She covered her eyes with her arm._

_Then, a fist hurdled itself towards Remus' face, too quickly for him to dodge it. Remus fell backwards, onto his butt. Ayu stood in front of him and shouted, "Where is she? I know you know, you filthy little dog!" Mutters circled around him. Ayu took another step threateningly, but before she could do anything, Richard pulled her back. "Let me go!" she cried. "I know you know!" She shouted that as a mantra, until, finally, her sobs overpowered her voice and she turned and sobbed into Richard's chest, who held her helplessly. _

_Remus stood and he began to explain what had happened. He finished, and a hush fell over the group. He passed out the letters. Everyone took them and separated. Ayu took both hers and Tohru's, and stomped off, Richard following. Momiji stared at his letter for a moment and tore open the envelope. He read it. When he finished, he folded it up and put it into his jacket pocket, turning. Then he walked away, slowly, into the night._

_Remus was alone now, isolated by his decisions. The only person remaining was Dark. Remus looked down at her. Then he said, "Need a hand?"_

_Dark nodded, holding up her hand. _

_Remus grasped it and pulled her up. _

Remus looked back at the clock and realized that it was 4:59:50. Kira would call in just under 10 seconds.

10…

…9…

…8…

…7…

…6…

…5…

…4…

…3…

…2...

…1…

…0.

Then the phone rang. Remus picked it up halfway through the first ring. "Hello?" he said. "Kira?" No response. "Kira?"

"Hey, Remy."

Remus fell heavily back against the chair, threading a hand through his hair. "Don't do that again Kira. You know how hard it is waiting for you…"

He could practically hear her smile through the phone, "Sorry, Remy." There was a slight pause; then Kira said, "So…how have things been going, with everyone?"

Remus told Kira all that had happened since her departure.

Mika and Zan were married, and Mika was very pregnant (about the size of a house). Tatsuya was still the eternal bachelor he had always been; he just wasn't cut out for marriage, with anyone. Mika and Tatsuya had found out about their paternity. Surprisingly, Tatsuya had been the most upset about it. Mika had simply sighed and had held the letter to her chest. Then she had smiled softly. Zan still did not know who his family was…all he knew was that he was not a Honda. He had checked the records too thoroughly. Of course, it did not really bother him that much; he had never known about his family anyway. Haya and Sada were teenagers now, but still as Kira/Ayu obsessed as always. Shino and Hiromo were nine. All of the Sohmas were happy and together. Elle and Romulus were planning their wedding. Shinji and Toji were happy bachelors, and Miri, Ai, and Leiko were happy bachelorettes.

Ayu and Tohru were happily dating Richard and Kyo respectively. It was obvious that they were waiting for Kira's return before they would get married. Especially Kyo, who knew that he needed to ask for Tohru's hand because Kira would be unhappy if he did not.

As far as Ayu went, tensions were still high between them. She still disliked that Remus hadn't tried to stop Kira (not that Kira could be stopped by just about anyone). However, he still knew that Ayu had disbanded the Agency. There had been a great amount of anger at this, but it was over. The Agency, which had been in place for centuries was gone now, and, frankly, he couldn't be happier. He still heard about Ayu from Richard, and had even heard about what her letter had said. According to Richard, Kira had told her to live on normally, which, as impossible as it seems to do, Ayu had given her best shot at it.

Kira listened to the stories about everyone else, then she asked, "What about you Remy? What have you been up to?"

"Well, I'm Dark's agent. She is a rock superstar after all."

"I've heard of her, where I'm from."

"Well, she's getting quite popular. We're together now…have been for close to five years now."

"…as you know I'm fine with that," Kira said. "But I just need to ask one question first."

"Ask away."

"Did you get with her just to replace me?" Kira asked.

"No," Remus said. "You're like my sister, you know that. And she…well, I love her more than I ever loved you when we were together."

"Just checking."

"Well, anyway, we're happy."

"What about Momiji, Remy?"

Remus had no direct contact with Momiji. He knew that Momiji probably did not blame him for what Kira had done, but it was still very awkward between them…tense somehow. "He's still studying in Germany," Remus said. "He's as happy as he can be without you. I haven't heard anything about a girlfriend, so don't worry about that."

Kira said, "I see."

"Kira, what's happening with you?"

"Well, I'm going into my senior year of college. I graduated high school in one year, and then went began college. I'm going to grad school the year after this one, but I haven't decided where yet."

"Why not?"

"Well, I wanted to talk about this anyway," Kira began. "I want to come back."

"You mean it?" Remus asked.

"Yes…I'm going to re-meet up with everyone soon. But first, I want to see Momiji. He deserves that much at least."

"Okay."

"So, I was wondering if you could call him for me, and tell him my location so he can come see me."

Remus sighed and said, "Alright, I'll do it."

"Thank you Remy, I'll see you soon, 'kay?"

"Okay. Bye."

Remus hung up the phone, before dialing Momiji's number. It rang, and Momiji answered on the fourth ring and said, "_Hallo?"_

Remus was silent for a moment before he said, "Momiji, it's Remus."

There was silence on the phone, and then Momiji said, "Oh. It's been a while."

"Yes. Yes, it has," Remus replied. "But I have something to tell you. You see, Kira called me this morning."

Momiji breathed, "I see."

"And she wants to see you."

"Where? When?"

"As soon as possible. She's at her home in…" Remus told Momiji her address.

"Alright," Momiji said. "Thank you very much."

"Good luck."

"_Ja_," Momiji said. "Well, I'll be seeing you."

"Right. Bye."

"Bye."

Remus hung up the phone and leaned back heavily. He rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted, but somehow the dawn was brighter than it had been just a few moments before.

Then he felt warm arms drape over him from behind. He looked up, and saw Dark, smiling softly down at him. She kissed him on the cheek and said, "Good morning."

He grinned. "Good morning."

Dark walked around to the front of the chair and sat on his lap, draping her legs over the arm of the chair, wrapping her arms around his neck, and leaning her back against the other arm of the chair. She was dressed in one of his long white dress shirts and a pair of his boxers. She smiled at him and said, "Have you talked to Kira yet?"

"Yes," he replied. "She's coming back soon."

At that, Dark grinned broadly and said, "I knew that moron would return soon!" Remus nodded. Noticing his fatigue, she said, "Why don't we go back to bed?"

Remus yawned, "Alright."

Dark kissed him, and Remus did not think of Kira; he thought about how lucky he was to have a beautiful woman that he loved in his arms. Certainly, they weren't perfect, but that made Remus love her all the more.

_The Next Day…_

Momiji walked down the city street, having taken the first flight out of Munich to Boston. He was walking to Kira's house, a bouquet of forget-me-nots in his hand. He was in a blue suit. Tucked inside his pocket was the letter. He had memorized every word. It read:

_Dear Momiji, _

_I know that my sudden disappearance must be a shock for you. It's nothing personal…I had to leave to find myself. _

_At any rate, Momiji, I love you more than anything, but I needed to go do this. I understand if you won't/can't wait for me, and I understand that (as much as I wish you would). Think of this separation as a good thing. After all, we both need some maturing before we can go into what I hope to be a mature relationship. I hope you understand. _

_Goodbye, Momiji. I love you._

_Kira Honda_

Momiji saw her house…it was in the expensive section of town; this must have been what she spent her Agency money on. The brick townhouse had a lit street lamp out in front of it. He went to the door and rang the bell. For a moment, he feared that she wasn't home. Then he heard hurried footsteps, and she burst out of the door.

Kira was just as beautiful as he remembered. They stared at each other for a long moment. They were so much older…

Momiji swooped down and kissed her, holding her tightly in his arms. They kissed, and everything was right in the world again…everything was oh-so perfect.

The door stood open behind them…open to everything.

Open to their futures, boundless and without end.

_The End_

End Note: It's been a long run hasn't it?

We have reached the end of the _Tales of an Onigiri Saga, _a 99,142 word saga, which was written over the course of four years. Lots has happened in my life since then, but this story was always a presence in my life.

Whether or not you liked the ending, this is the way I've always known it simply had too…with Kira opening her own door for once, into her own future. I hope I can find her strength…and the strength of most of the characters in this saga.

This series is truly been about growth, of me as a person, and of each of the characters in this series.

I hope you enjoyed not only the end, but the entire saga. Some of you have been with me since the beginning. Even if you have never reviewed before, please do so I can hear your thoughts.

Even if you don't, thank you very much for following me for so long and enjoying the characters.

Signing off,

-44


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